I am joined by my good friend and outstanding oboist Karen Birch Blundell. Karen provides a wealth of information about the oboe including some practical advice about reeds and oboe tips for composers.

Topics:

• Karen's early choice to play oboe
• Starting kids on the oboe right away
• Finding and making reeds
• The importance of good equipment
• Learning how to practice
• Taking relaxed breaths
• Tips for composers
• Building rests into oboe music
• High school band!
• The New Sousa Band

Links:

• The International Double Reed Society
• Oboe Motions by Stephen Caplan
• Making Reeds Start to Finish by Nancy Ambrose King
• Keith Brion and the New Sousa Band
• The Eastern Music Festival
• Karen's Website

Biography: Karen Birch Blundell lives in New York City and is a member of both the Northeastern Pennsylvania Philharmonic (English horn) and the Eastern Festival Orchestra (English horn/Associate Principal Oboe). She also performs regularly with the Allentown Symphony and the Springfield Symphony Orchestra. She has performed with the Cincinnati Pops Orchestra, Hartford Symphony, C4- the Choral Composer/Conductor Collective, the Harrisburg Symphony, and the American Symphony Orchestra.​