The Twin Cities Reed Quintet brings together top musicians in the classical, jazz, world, and contemporary music scenes to present music from the new and ever-growing repertoire of the reed quintet. These five reed instruments (oboe, saxophone, clarinet, bass clarinet, and bassoon) create a wonderfully rich and vibrant ensemble sonority that is well-suited to works of many different styles. Even though the reed quintet is a relatively new chamber music configuration that was only developed in the 1980s, it is the mission of the TCRQ to perform a wide range of music, both original and adapted, from many genres, including the baroque polyphony of Handel, the jazzy harmonies of Gershwin, and the rocking and rollicking minimalism of Marc Mellits.
Carrie Vecchione – Oboe
Oboist Carrie Vecchione is an active performer and teacher in the Minnesota Twin Cities. She is one half of the award-winning musical duo OboeBass! with bassist Rolf Erdahl. Vecchione has been a sub in various Minnesota ensembles such as the Minnesota Orchestra, Minnesota Sinfonia and the The Northern Lights Music Festival. She has also been a member of The Duluth/Superior Symphony, The Indianapolis Chamber Orchestra and The Baton Rouge Symphony. She has performed at numerous conferences of the International Double Reed Society and the International Society of Bassists.Currently she is Artist Faculty at The MacPhail Center for Music in Minneapolis. She has had year/semester fill-in positions at The University of Wisconsin/Eau Claire and St Olaf College. In past Summers she had also been on the faculty of the Double Reed Camp at UW Eau Claire and the Sewanee Summer Music Festival. Dr. Vecchione was also the creator and host for five summers of the John de Lancie Master Classes and the Reed Maker’s Workshops, both national events. She has authored a number of grants awarded to OboeBass! from Chamber Music America, the Minnesota State Arts Board and the Metropolitan Regional Arts Council to present engaging concerts and educational programs to all ages.
Jennifer Gerth – Clarinet
Jennifer Gerth is in her 27th season as principal clarinet of the Duluth-Superior Symphony Orchestra. A substitute with the Minnesota Orchestra since 1995, she also performs with the Minnesota Opera, VocalEssence, Northrup Ballet and Minnesota Dance Theater and other freelance groups. Jennifer performed and toured with the Minnesota Contemporary Ensemble and co-founded The Prospect Park Players, a chamber music group that enjoyed a 7 year residency at Hamline University. An avid lover of chamber music, she has played 20 seasons at the Festival of the Lakes Chamber music festival. Ms. Gerth is also an avid teacher and clinician and has been teaching at the collegiate level for over three decades. She has held teaching positions at the University of Minnesota, St. Olaf College, St. Cloud State University and Augsburg College. She has performed masterclasses and concerts throughout the midwest and has appeared as a repeated guest clinician at Midwest Musical Imports’ Clarinet Day. She was teacher and faculty soloist at the Birch Creek Summer Performance Center in Door County, WI. Jennifer currently teaches at the University of St. Thomas, the College of St. Benedict and also maintains a private studio. She enjoys running, cooking, yoga, gardening and hatching butterflies.
Joan Hutton – Alto Saxophone
Joan Hutton is a woodwind performer, composer and music educator residing in Minneapolis and hailing from Toronto, Canada. Her varied musical interests have led her over the years to classical, jazz, funk, free improvisation, pit orchestras and more. She is a long time member of the Ancia Saxophone Quartet, which has performed internationally and has recordings on the Naxos and Albany labels. She leads her own jazz groups, including the Joan Hutton Jazz Project and Take That Back, which feature her original compositions. Her album “Take That Back”, co-led with saxophonist Sue Orfield, was released in 2022 on Shifting Paradigm Records. Joan is the saxophone instructor at Augsburg University and has a large private studio of clarinet and saxophone students.
Pat O’Keefe – Bass Clarinet
Pat O’Keefe is a multifaceted performer who is active and in demand in a wide variety of musical genres from classical to Klezmer. He is currently the woodwind player for the contemporary music ensemble Zeitgeist, and he has appeared as a soloist at the ClarinetFest, SEAMUS, Spark!, and the Third Practice festivals, as well as the International Sori Festival in Jeonju, South Korea. Pat is also drawn to the music of other cultures, and has studied with master musicians from Brazil, Turkey, and Korea. He performs regularly on both woodwinds and percussion with the groups Batucada do Norte, Choro Borealis, and The Maithree Ensemble in the Twin Cities. Pat holds a BM (with Performer’s Certificate) from Indiana University, an MM (with Academic Honors and Distinction in Performance) from the New England Conservatory, and a DMA from the University of California, San Diego. He has received grants from the Minnesota State Arts Board and the Metropolitan Regional Arts Council, and in 2015 he was awarded a Performing Musician Fellowship from the McKnight Foundation. He teaches at the University of Wisconsin, River Falls where he has taught since 2001.
Nick Ober – Bassoon
Recently appointed as principal bassoon of the Bozeman Symphony Orchestra in Bozeman, MT, Nick’s aspiration is to be as versatile of a bassoonist as possible. Although primarily experienced as a symphonic player, he has also performed in Opera pits, chamber groups, theatre and musical productions, and new music ensembles. Nick served as 2nd bassoon in the Chippewa Valley Symphony Orchestra in Eau Claire, WI, during their 21-22 season. He is also the bassoon instructor at the University of Wisconsin, River Falls. Most recently, he has had the opportunity to play with the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra in their 21-22 season. While obtaining his Master’s in bassoon at Northwestern University in Evanston, IL, he helped launch the project Apres L’Histoire, a new music ensemble that performs and commissions works for the same ensemble used in Stravinsky’s L’Histoire du Soldat. He also co-founded the Seraphina Ensemble, a new music project focusing on living composers from underrepresented demographics. Nick was in the cast for the Chicago Shakespeare Theater’s production of Nell Gwynn in Fall 2018. He has also performed with numerous community ensembles in Chicagoland and the Twin Cities, from the Northbrook and Evanston Symphonies in IL, to the Medalist Concert Band and Encore Wind Ensemble in MN. With 5 years of experience as a barista, he is also excellent at recommending coffee to people. He has a keen interest in bringing the bassoon to genres it is not normally found in, such as jazz. Nick hopes to maintain a bassoon studio and help players of all kinds discover their passion for music.
