Northwest Oboe Seminar

Established in 1984, Mark Chudnow Woodwinds has been a leading innovator in the design and development of double reed products since its inception. Mark started as a repairman in 1980 and is one of only a handful of Americans trained at the F. Lorée factory in France! He brought to the business an understanding and creativity not formerly found in the field. Mark quickly brought to fruition some of the many ideas he had developed in his years of talking and listening to musicians' complaints involving instruments and accessories. Among the innovative improvements are the CA and the Sierra line of staples. The CAs are the first line of staples to be consistent, seamless and chamfered. Mark's English Horn and Oboe d'amore bocals are also noteworthy. Each one is constructed with a "tenon cork" at the tip, insuring greater airtightness and security than any other bocal on the market. Extremely popular among reedmakers throughout the world are the precision MCW hollow ground knives. On a whimsical note, Mark's introduction of colorful swabs has brightened the otherwise black or brown world of double reed accessories. In 1990, the Sierra oboe was introduced as a natural extension of Mark's skills and interest. Debuting in 1991, the MCW Oboe represents Mark's endeavor to provide an oboe of professional quality at an affordable price. Designed for the intermediate to advanced level student, the MCW oboe truly represents handcrafted excellence for the serious student. Mark's first presentation at the Northwest Oboe Seminar was in 2000 with his topic, Secrets of Oboe Making! MCW has been a Seminar sponsor since 1995.

Victoria Racz, B.M., M.M., has performed throughout the United States in professional ensembles on oboe and English horn and as a recitalist, competition winner and soloist. As an orchestral soloist she has performed with ensembles in Michigan, Nevada, Washington and Oregon. Northwest recitals include venues such as Marylhurst University, Linfield College, The Old Church, Music Millennium, etc. She is the principal oboist with the OREGON CHAMBER PLAYERS (www.oregonchamberplayers.org), principal with the Newport Orchestra (since 1995), and oboist with the Con Grazia Wind Quintet, as well as the OCP QUARTET (oboe and strings), Sirens Trio (flute, oboe & piano), and DOUBLE REED DIVAS. She is the Co-founder, General Manager and primary wind coach for the Junior Symphony of Vancouver, and is in demand throughout the Northwest as a teacher and adjudicator. All-Classical 89.9 FM has featured her as a regular guest including on-air performances, and she performed with Jane Siberry (Issa) for her Portland appearance in 2005. She has written program notes and/or presented concert talks with organizations such as the OREGON CHAMBER PLAYERS, Junior Symphony of Vancouver, Portland’s Columbia Symphony, Newport Symphony, and Vancouver Symphony. Her husband is violinist, composer and conductor Timoteus Racz and they own the shop Racz European Violins in Vancouver, WA (www.raczeuropeanviolins.com).

Kathy Stockwell-Riemann, B.M., Artist Diploma., studied with renowned oboists and teachers Dan Stolper (Michigan State University), and Sara Lambert Bloom & Robert Bloom (Cincinnati Conservatory of Music, Artist Diploma Program) among others. She ran her own successful reed company out of Seattle, and has been the Reed Clinician and Assistant of the Northwest Oboe Seminar since 2001. She and Victoria met at Gail Warnaar's Double Reed Camp at Hope College in Michigan (http://www.theoldhomestead.com/reed.htm), where both Kathy and Victoria attended for many years.

Annie Kosanovic-Brown received her BM Degree from Oberlin and was a Graduate Scholarship student at the Cincinnati Conservatory of Music. She studied for two years at the Hochschule Mozarteum in Salzburg, and had a 3 year scholarship to the Karajan Academies in Berlin. Principal teachers include Gunter Piesk (Berlin Philharmonic); Milan Turkovic (Vienna Symphony); Ken Moore, and Mark Eubanks (Oregon Symphony).

She is the bassoonist in the Con Grazia Wind Quintet (www.oregonchamberplayers.org), principal bassoonist with Bravo! Vancouver (www.bravoconcerts.com), and plays frequently with the Seattle Symphony and Oregon Symphony. She has been the principal bassoonist with the Bellevue Philharmonic; Kwa Zulu Natal Philharmonic (Durban, South Africa); Das Symphonie Orchester (Berlin); and Camerata Salzburg (Austria). She has also played with the Tacoma Symphonies; Northwest Chamber Orchestra; Honolulu Symphony; Seattle Opera; Deutsche Opera, Berlin; Mozarteum Orchester, Salzburg; and Symphonisches Orchester, Berlin. For a bit of trivia, she was the first female bassoonist to perform with the Berlin Philharmonic under Herbert van Karajan, and she played there for 2 years!

Her solo experience includes appearances with Bravo! Vancouver; Rainier Chamber Winds (Seattle); Philharmonia Northwest; Natal Philharmonic (Durban, South Africa); Jeunesse Orchester Linz (by request of Franz Welser Most); Capella Salisburgensis (Salzburg, Austria); Round Top Festival Orchestra (Texas); and the Oberlin Chamber Orchestra. She was a founding member of the Ensemble Vindobona (Seattle), played and recorded with the Rainier Chamber Winds, and recorded for the Motion Picture Movie Industry and related studio session work in Seattle, WA.

Ann has extensive teaching experience that includes Music Schuler Elmendorf (Berlin, Germany); Pinetown Music School (Natal, South Africa); Associate Professor of Bassoon - University of Natal; Seattle Youth Symphony Coach; and currently the Icicle Creek Summer Symphony Faculty (Leavenworth, WA).

Pianist and Conductor Maria Manzo became our Seminar accompanist in 2008, and is co-founder and Music Director of the Bravo! Vancouver Concert Series. (www.bravoconcerts.com) Dr. Manzo has been Director of Music at St. Joseph Church in Vancouver, Washington since 1993 where she directs four choirs and is the Parish Pianist & Organist. The St. Joseph Parish Choir has released three CD recordings under her direction, including: Then Sings My Soul; Hallelujah! A St. Joseph Christmas, and; Songs in the Key of Faith. In 1997, the Parish Choir toured Italy, singing concerts the Basilicas in Venice, Assisi, Florence, and at the Vatican for Pope John Paul II. In 2001, Dr. Manzo’s Parish Choir and the Bravo! Chorale were invited to perform at the 25th Annual National Pastoral Musician’s Conference in Washington D.C., collaborating with the New Washingtons Jazz Orchestra (Duke Ellington School of the Arts) in an East Coast tour which culminated at Alice Tully Hall in New York. The Bravo! Chorale recently released the CD recording, Hear My Prayer: The American Spiritual under her direction. It features classic & contemporary American Spirituals, including the Sacred Cantata, composed by Bravo’s Artistic Director, Dr. Michael Kissinger. On the International scene, since 2007, Dr. Manzo has performed regularly as both a Concert Pianist and Guest Conductor with the Dubrovnik Symphony Orchestra (DSO) in Dubrovnik, Croatia. Recent performances have included the Beethoven Triple Concerto (pianist), and the Mozart Clarinet Concerto (conductor). In October 2008, she co-conducted the Bravo! Chorale and the DSO in a Pacific Northwest tour with performances in Vancouver/Portland, Tacoma, Edmonds and Seattle at the CroatiaFest at Seattle Center. In June of 2009, Dr. Manzo will co-conduct the Bravo! Chorale and the DSO throughout Croatia and Bosnia-Hercegovina. The tour will feature both Croatian and American folk music and spirituals. Dr. Manzo is recognized for her extensive scholarship on the American Negro Spiritual, and is an authority on the music of composer and arranger Jester Hairston, composer of Amen and other well-known spirituals. She is also the Festival Director for the Vancouver Wine & Jazz Festival, which has featured such grammy-winning musicians as Melissa Manchester, Preservation Hall Jazz Band, Kenny Loggins, Chuck Mangione, and others. From 1989-93, Dr. Manzo was Assistant Professor of Choral Music at North Carolina Wesleyan College. She received her B.A. and Master of Music degrees from Eastern Washington University and her Doctorate of Arts degree from the University of Northern Colorado. She can be heard performing throughout the Northwest as the pianist in the SIRENS Trio - www.oregonchamberplayers.org.

Pablo Izquierdo received a masters degree in performance from University of Victoria, B.C. He played for 20 years with the Portland Opera, and currently performs with the Portland Chamber Orchestra, Vancouver Symphony, Portland Festival Symphony and the Walla Walla Symphony. He has studied oboe repair with Tom Hiniker, is an adjunct faculty member at Reed College, and has a private oboe studio in Vancouver and Beaverton.