“Soulful”, “well-crafted”, “moving lyricism”, and “beautifully rendered” are just some of the words used to describe Ertz’s playing by various reviews and publications. Ashley Ertz is Principal Oboe with the Jackson Symphony Orchestra, English Horn/Third Oboe with the Quad Cities Symphony Orchestra and English Horn/Second Oboe with the Northwest Indiana Symphony Orchestra. She is also the Artistic Director/Founder of 5th Wave Collective. Since relocating to Chicago in 2017, Ertz has performed with numerous ensembles including the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra, Chicago Sinfonietta, Civic Orchestra of Chicago, Orchestra Iowa, Illinois Philharmonic, and more. While living in San Francisco she performed with the San Francisco Symphony, ChamberFest with Jeffrey Kahane and Jennifer Koh, Santa Rosa Symphony, and more. Ertz hold’s degrees from DePaul University, San Francisco Conservatory of Music and San Francisco State University. While not tirelessly making reeds, Ashley enjoys reading books and snuggling with her kitty cat, Stella.