Sarah SouthardSarah Southard

Sarah Southard of the Hope College music faculty will present “An Evening of Oboe Music” on Friday, March 3, at 7:30 p.m. in the John and Dede Howard Recital Hall of the Jack H. Miller Center for Musical Arts.

The public is invited. Admission is free.

Southard, an oboist, will be performing “Sonata in G Minor, BWV 1030b,” by J.S. Bach; “Three Songs Without Words,” by Paul Ben-Haim; “3 Diversions for 2 Oboes,” by Jeffrey Rathbun; and “Sonata for Oboe and Piano,” by Paul Hindemith. The selections represent a broad range of history (Bach-1735 to Rathbun-1987) and compositional styles, including Israeli composer Ben-Haim fusing both Western and Eastern styles of music in his writing and Rathbun using modern extended technique to challenge the oboists in his duet. Southard will be joined by fellow Hope faculty member Jennifer Wolfe, pianist, and Holland Symphony Orchestra member Becky Williams, oboist.

Southard is the oboe instructor at Hope College, a member of the Holland and Midland Symphony Orchestras, and oboist in the Hope College faculty and staff chamber group, “Trio Sospiro.”  The trio has been part of several commissions and has performed at both the International Double Reed Society and National Flute Association conferences.  As an active performer, she plays regularly with the West Michigan Symphony Orchestra, the Lansing Symphony Orchestra, the Chamber Music Festival of Saugatuck, and the Free @ 3 Concert Series in Holland.  She has also performed with groups such as the Chautauqua Symphony Orchestra in New York, the New World Symphony Orchestral in Florida, the Cincinnati Symphony Opera Orchestra in Ohio, and the Madison Symphony and Chamber Orchestras in Wisconsin.

Additional teaching experience includes positions held at Central Michigan University, the University of Michigan-Flint, Northern Kentucky University, and the Interlochen Center for the Arts All-State Orchestra and All-State Band.  Southard received her Doctorate of Musical Arts degree from Michigan State University with oboist Jan Eberle, her master’s degree at the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music with Mark Ostoich, and her undergraduate degree from the University of Wisconsin-Madison studying with Marc Fink.

The Jack H. Miller Center for Musical Arts is located at 221 Columbia Ave., between Ninth and 10th streets.