Miriam Lense, oboe

Miriam Lense is a freelance oboist and violinist with experience performing in classical, pops, and klezmer ensembles.  Prior to moving to Nashville, she performed in several ensembles in the New England area, including the Ocean State Summer Pops Orchestra, Harvard Bach Society Orchestra and Harvard Pops Orchestra.  She was a soloist with the Ocean State Summer Pops Orchestra for a featured performance of "Gabriel's Oboe" during their 2007 season.  She was also a founding member of Recklez, the Harvard Klezmer Ensemble.

Rachel Maczko, oboe

Rachel Maczko has been living in greater Nashville for just over a year. Before moving to the area she received her Bachelor of Music degree at Louisiana State University and her Master of Music degree at Boston University in music performance.  Throughout her schooling, Rachel has studied under many great oboists including Linda Strommen, Jonathan Dlouhy, Laura Ahbeck, and Daniel Stolper.  Currently, Rachel is playing for touring orchestras out of Atlanta and is also working as a freelance performer and teacher in the Nashville area.

Nicole McVey: oboe, English horn

Nicole McVey plays oboe and English horn and has been a member of the Nashville Double Reed Ensemble since 2005.  She freelances and teaches in the Nashville, TN area.  She teaches music appreciation at Middle Tennessee State University as an adjunct instructor.  She is a graduate of the Blair School of Music at Vanderbilt University where she studied with Bobby Taylor.  She holds a Master of Music in oboe from Indiana University where she studied with Marc Lifschey and Nicholas Daniel.  She was a member of the United States Army Europe Band from 2001-2004 and travelled all over Europe performing for dignitaries and world leaders.  Nicole is married to her husband Tim and they have two wonderful boys Logan and Duncan.

Gerald Moore, Assistant Conductor

Gerald Moore has both a B.M. and M.M.E in music education from the University of North Texas and a D.M.E. from the University of Oklahoma in music theory.  He plays modern and historic woodwind instruments and has directed bands and choirs at various levels in Texas.  He is currently retired from Lipscomb University after thirty-two years of teaching music theory and directing the Jazz Vocal Ensemble and the Early Music Consort.  He is presently the music director of the Nashville Early Music Ensemble.

Dewayne Pigg: oboe, oboe d'amore, English horn

Dewayne Pigg, Professor of Music and Double Reeds at Middle Tennessee State University and adjunct oboe instructor at Lipscomb University, is formerly managing director of of the Stones River Chamber Players at MTSU.  Mr. Pigg was the co-founder of the Stones River Chamber Players.  He has recorded with the chamber players William Grant Still's Miniatures for Flute, Oboe, and Piano; Henry Cowell's Quartet for Flute, Oboe, Cello & Harpsichord; and Trio for Flute, Oboe, and Piano by Madeline Dring.  He has also recorded with such stars as John Denver, Johnny Cash, Mel Tillis, Erlene Mandrell and others.  He can be heard playing English horn on the sound track of The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas with Dolly Parton and Burt Reynolds.  He is also on the sound track for a documentary about the life of Paul Lawrence Dunbar.  While also a member of the Belmont Chamber Winds and the Camarata Musicale (Belmont University), the Nashville Chamber Orchestra, and solo English horn with the Nashville Symphony, he has been a frequent performer throughout Middle Tennessee, West Tennessee, Mississippi, Kentucky, South Carolina, North Carolina, and Alabama.

He has performed on the oboe, oboe d'amore, and English horn in solo recitals, chamber music concerts, recording sessions, and on the radio for WPLN's "In Concert" series and the recent

series "Live in Studio C".  He has also performed in chamber and orchestra concerts in Nassau, Bahamas; Stratford, Canada; Spain, Greece, France, and Germany.  Mr. Pigg has been invited to play at the International Double Reed Society with The Amoris Consort in Chicago, IL, and in Madison, Wisconsin as part of the opening gala concert for the conference.  Mr. Pigg has served as a faculty member at Fisk University, Freewill Baptist College, Trevecca University, Belmont University, Lipscomb University, and Middle Tennessee State University; as well as the Governor's School for the Arts of Tennessee.

Mr. Pigg holds degrees from George Peabody College and Fisk University where Don Cassel (a graduate of the Curtiss Institute with Marcel Tabateau), former principal oboe with the Nashville Symphony, was his teacher.  Other major influences during his studies were Robert Bloom at Yale University, doctoral studies with Jerry Sirucek and Marc Lifschey at Indiana University; Ray Still(principal oboe) and Grover Schiltz(English horn) of the Chicago Symphony; Joseph Robinson (principal oboe) and Thomas Stacy (English horn and oboe d'amore soloist) of the New York Philharmonic.  Mr. Pigg has been a member of the MTSU faculty since 1982.

Dewayne is the founder and CEO of PAD Artists Management, PAD Publications, and Dewayne Pigg T-shirts.  He was formerly co-owner of the Donut Depot in Dickson, TN.