Woodwind Quintet

Libby Gray Raichart, Flute
Lauren Murray, Oboe
April Johannesen, Clarinet
Karen Crews Gregg, Bassoon
Marian Hesse, Horn

For additional information about Mountain Winds, contact April via email.

             Libby Gray Raichart has played Principal Flute with the Fort Collins Symphony Orchestra since 2001. In addition to her work with the FCSO, Libby has performed with the Colorado Symphony, Boulder Philharmonic, Fort Collins Opera, Cheyenne Symphony, and the Denver Municipal Band. Originally from Seattle, WA, Libby holds music degrees from the University of Washington (Seattle, WA) and Northwestern University (Evanston, IL). Prior to moving to Colorado, Libby played Principal Flute with the South Dakota Symphony and Dakota Wind Quintet, touring across South Dakota with the quintet performing outreach concerts in small towns and schools. In Seattle she played piccolo with the Bellevue Philharmonic and Orchestra Seattle. She also spent several years as a private flute teacher and freelancer in Houston, TX. Primary instructors include Walfrid Kujala, Zart Dombourian-Eby, and Felix Skowronek, and she has been a masterclass performer for Julius Baker and Keith Underwood. Currently Libby resides in Broomfield, CO, with her husband, trombonist Patrick Raichart.

             Dr. Lauren Murray is the Instructor of Oboe and Associate Director of the School of Music at The University of Northern Colorado. Prior to her appointment at UNC, Dr. Murray served on the faculties of Murray State University, Austin Peay State University, the University of South Florida, and Southeastern Oklahoma State University. As a recitalist, Dr. Murray performs regularly with ‘Harmonie del Sur’, a duo with trumpeter Robert Murray, performing new and existing works for oboe and trumpet, as well as chamber wind music. In the spring of 2005, the duo presented their New York recital debut with performances at Lincoln Center and Carnegie Hall. HdS has been invited to and performed masterclasses, recitals, and lecture-recitals at a variety of venues around the country including the International Double Reed Society Conference and Convention, International and National College Music Society Meetings, the National Symposium for Music Instruction Technology, Colorado Music Educators Association, and the North Texas Conductor’s Collegium. Dr. Murray has appeared in recital at The Moab Music Festival, New Music Tampa, the Bonk Festival of New Music, and The Winter Sun Music Festival. She has held English horn positions with the Owensboro (KY) and Irving (TX) Symphonies, and during her tenure at the University of South Florida performed regularly with the Florida Orchestra. She has appeared as a soloist with the UNC Wind Ensemble and Symphonic Band, the USF Symphony Orchestra and the North Texas Wind Symphony. Dr. Murray can be heard on recordings on the Emeritus, Klavier, GIA, Symphonic Discoveries, and Bonk labels. Dr. Murray received the D.M.A in Oboe Performance from The University of North Texas where she was a student of Charles Veazey. While in Denton, she played with the North Texas Wind Symphony, and continues to record with the group in the summers on their recording project “Teaching Music Through Performance in Band” published by GIA. Dr. Murray received the M.M from Yale University where she studied with Ronald Roseman, and the BME from Stetson University in Deland, Florida.

             April Johannesen is the 2nd clarinetist with the Fort Collins Symphony Orchestra. April received her Masters Degree from the Brooklyn College Conservatory of Music in 2001. There she served as assistant conductor to Dr. Paul Shelden for the Brooklyn College Wind Ensemble and as a Director of Chamber Ensembles. Her principal teachers have included Mark Nuccio, Paul Garner and David Weber. Ms. Johannesen spent several years in New York City as an active free-lance musician playing with such groups as the School of American Ballet Orchestra, the Greenwich Village Orchestra, the New Amsterdam Symphony Orchestra, the New York Repertory Orchestra, the Spectrum Symphony Orchestra, the Musica Bella Orchestra of New York, and the Long Island Pops Orchestra. While in New York City, April studied extensively with Mark Nuccio, associate principal and Eb clarinetist of the New York Philharmonic. During this time she also owned and operated The Johannesen Music Studio, a private teaching studio in Long Island employing eight teachers of various instruments teaching over 120 students. She recently moved to Colorado with her husband, composer and saxophonist, Wil Swindler. Together they operate Single Reed Consultants, a woodwind company. When not in Colorado to play with FCSO, Mountain Winds or the Northern Woodwind Quintet, April is traveling the country auditioning for major symphony orchestras and giving lectures and clinics on clarinet performance.

     Dr. Karen Crews Gregg received her Masters' and Doctorate Degrees in Bassoon Performance from the Ohio State University where she studied with Christopher Weait, and her Bachelor of Music Performance Degree from the University of Northern Colorado where she studied with Dr. Charles Hansen. In 1996, Karen lived in Barranquilla, Colombia, where she was the principal bassoonist and woodwind director of the Orquesta Sinfonica de Barranquilla. Currently she maintains an active and successful studio of private students, and they have been accepted to programs such as the Interlochen Summer Academy, the Oberlin Conservatory of Music, the Cincinnati Conservatory of Music, the University of Colorado at Boulder and the University of Northern Colorado. She has been an active performer and teacher in Ohio and Colorado and is currently the Director of Bands at Lyons High School in Lyons, Colorado. Karen performs regularly on bassoon and contrabassoon with the Fort Collins Symphony Orchestra and the Cheyenne Symphony Orchestra, and has also performed with the Columbus Symphony Orchestra, the Springfield Symphony Orchestra, the Mostly Mozart Chamber Orchestra, the Columbus Bach Ensemble, and the Ohio State University Faculty Chamber Orchestra.

             Grammy winning hornist Marian Hesse is Assistant Professor of Horn at the University of Northern Colorado. As a member of the renowned Chestnut Brass Company for eighteen seasons, Ms. Hesse is an accomplished performer on historical instruments from the Renaissance, early 19th century and the Civil War eras. In addition to the horn, she plays alto sacbut, natural horn, alto saxhorn and the quinticlave (a rare 19th century keyed instrument). With the Chestnut Brass, and as a soloist, she has performed chamber music recitals and solos in 49 states. As a recording artist, Ms. Hesse has made more than a fifteen recordings. These range from performances on early brasses to recent works for brass quintet - Ms. Hesse is featured horn soloist in the Grammy award winning Chestnut Brass Company recording of Variations on a Joke by Peter Schickele (Newport Hornsmoke). In addition, she appears on the Mozart Orchestra recording of the oboe concertos of William Herschel (Newport Classic) and on the original soundtrack recording of the Civil War television program (Elektra). In her role as an educator, Ms. Hesse has given lectures and master classes at educational institutions nationwide including the Chautauqua Institute, Interlochen, the Juilliard School of Music, University of North Texas, and the University of Wisconsin. Ms. Hesse has served on the horn jury for the Cheju (Korea) International Brass Competition in 2000 and 2002. Ms. Hesse has taught at Rowan University, LaSalle University and the University of Kansas. Ms. Hesse has performed as principal horn with the Boulder Bach Festival, the Kansas City Chamber Orchestra, the Concerto Soloists Orchestra of Philadelphia, and orchestras in Connecticut and Washington. She has performed in the Cayman Islands, Korea, Winterfest in Brazil, the Montreal International Music Camp, Mexico, Canada, Germany and Hungary. A graduate of the Yale School of Music, Ms. Hesse was awarded the Francis Louis Kirchoff Tapp chamber music award.