Dr. Ann Lemke has a multi-faceted career as a performer (oboe, oboe d’amore, and English horn), teacher, and scholar of women composers. Her album Oboe Salon, with pianist Amanda Sabelhaus, features beautiful, little-known chamber music by women composers of the 19th Century. Ann is Principal Oboist with the Rochester (MI) Symphony Orchestra and with the International Symphony Orchestra, where she gave the US and Canadian premiere performances of the Grandval Concerto (Lencses edition). A native of Metro Detroit, Ann Lemke maintains a thriving private studio, is Oboe Instructor at Cranbrook Schools, and taught Women in Music at Oakland University. A Fulbright scholar to Germany and a Yale University Beinecke Fellow, she has numerous publications on women composers. She studied with Elaine Douvas at the Manhattan School of Music before completing a doctoral degree at Indiana University. Please see lemkestudio.com
Dr. Abby Yeakle Held serves as the Oboe Professor at The Ohio State University, where she was appointed in 2021. As a performer, Held has performed with orchestras in her region including the Columbus Symphony, Dayton Philharmonic, and ProMusica Chamber Orchestra. She served as Associate Principal Oboe of the West Texas Symphony from 2017-2023. Held has performed internationally in Austria, Germany, and Belgium, including a recital at the United States Embassy in Vienna, Austria.
Dr. Held is also recognized for her unique research with the Viennese oboe. As a Fulbright Scholar, Dr. Held studied the Viennese oboe, its history, traditions, current state, and cross-application to the French conservatory oboist. She is the first to publish on the topic in English, making her one of the foremost scholars on the Viennese oboe outside of the instrument’s community.