lisa smolen jenkins
lisa smolen jenkins |
 Lisa
Smolen Jenkins is a professioal musician based in Las
Vegas, Nevada, experienced in many genres and styles
from symphonic & classical to musical theater and chamber.
Oboist by training, she doubles flutes, clarinet & saxophone. She teaches private music instruction on these instruments including piano.  |
Lisa
Smolen Jenkins is a 1992
graduate of the Eastman School of Music College Preparatory Program and
a 1996 graduate of Ithaca College with a Bachelor of Music in Oboe
Performance. Her oboe teachers have been: Jonathan Parkes,
Mark Hill, Richard Killmer & John Snow. She has had the honor
of being coached by renowned oboists Thomas Stacy, Ronald Roseman &
Henry Shuman. She has played under the batons of wind conductors
Larry Racliffe, Craig Kirchoff, Malcolm W. Rowell & Rodney Winther. A recent transplant to Las Vegas, NV, Lisa performs monthly with "Phantom: The Las Vegas Spectacular" and is a member of the Candlelight Trio. She also performs regularly with the Southern Nevada Musical Arts Society, The Nevada Chamber Symphony and other freelance groups in the area. She is a member of AFM Local 369 (Las Vegas). Lisa has enjoyed a colorful performing career encompassing a wide spectrum of musical genres - classical, symphonic, wind band, musical theater, opera and chamber ensembles of varying instrumentation - on her principal instrument oboe/English horn and her favorite secondary instrument, the flute. For 9 years, she was the English horn soloist with both the Berkshire Symphony and the Massachusetts Wind Orchestra, and 4 years as flutist with the Oblong Quintet. She has performed, on oboe, with the Rochester and Albany Symphonies. During her two seasons as 2nd interim oboist with the Binghamton Philharmonic, she was honored to perform at the Glimmerglass and Bellayre Music Festivals. For 5 seasons she was principal oboist with the Sage City Symphony based in Bennington, VT. She was also a member of the accompanying orchestras to several choral ensembles in Vermont, Massachusetts & New York, most notably the Bennington Choral Society, The Berkshire Concert Choir and the Hudson Valley Concert Choir. Focussed study on Early Music at Ithaca College led to performances with several chamber ensembles as both flutist & oboist including the Tamarack Strings, The Bennington Trio and The Oblong Quintet. In 2001, she performed two concertos in Bennington, VT: JS Bach's "Double Concerto for Violin & Oboe" (oboe) Aaron Copland's "Quiet City" (English horn) Her career in theater began in 1996 when she joined the pit orchestra on oboe/EH iin Rogers & Hammerstein's "Cinderella". Her love of theater has only grown deeper with each opportunity through the years. She has performed several musicals in the reed seat including: Bye, Bye Birdie (flute, alto sax, oboe) Oliver (flute, piccolo, alto sax, clarinet, oboe) Honk! (flute, clarinet, alto sax) In 2001, she performed in the Berkshire Theater Festivals' production of Gilbert & Sullivan's H.M.S. Pinafore (flute/piccolo). She also has experience in the opera theater having performed two Mozart operas with The New Opera In Williamstown, MA: Don Giovanni (2nd flute) Le Nozze di Figaro (principal oboe). Lisa firmly believes that it is the responsiblity of every musician to pass their craft along to the next generation, therefore she has been teaching private lessons since 1993. For 9 years, she was the Visiting Instructor of Woodwinds at the Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts (North Adams, MA), and at the same time was the director of her own private studio. These days, she enjoys knowing someone else is running the show now that she teaches at The Northwest & Brill Music Academies in Las Vegas. When she's not holding an instrument in her hand, Lisa can be found studying & practicing her second love: Yoga. Lisa lives in North Las Vegas with her husband, Matthew, a music teacher in the Clark County School District, and their son, Andrew, who claims he is going to be a super-hero when he grows up. See photos of Lisa over the years |
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