Join the Lionel Hampton School of Music for a day of double reed fun for oboists and bassoonists, co-hosted by the double reed faculty of University of Idaho (Keslie Pharis, oboe, and Javier Rodriguez, bassoon) and Washington State University (Keri McCarthy, oboe, and Jacqueline Wilson, bassoon)! Participants will learn from performances, masterclasses, reed classes, and playing in our Palouse Double Reed Band. All ages and ability levels are welcome!

Event details

• Date: Saturday, Oct. 17, 2026
• Location: Lionel Hampton School of Music, University of Idaho, Moscow Campus
• Cost: Free
• Event Schedule:
  • 12:30 – 1 p.m. Arrivals (LHSOM Lobby)
  • 1 p.m. Welcome Recital (Haddock Performance Hall)
  • 1:40 p.m. Masterclass
  • 3 p.m. Reed Class
  • 4 p.m. Double Reed Ensemble
  • 5: p.m. Event Concludes
• Please register here: https://futurevandals.uidaho.edu/register/pdrd26

• “Sunset” by Randy Stagich, approximately five minutes in length, is the second movement from the unfinished Four Memories from the High Plains for oboe and piano.
• From the fire tower by John William Griffith II is an eleven-minute trio for oboe, viola, and piano, inspired by the autumnal views from the fire towers throughout Brown County, Indiana.
• Dimictic by Timothy Russell is an eleven-minute work for oboe and electronic fixed media based around the annual cycles of Lake Mendota and Lake Monona in Madison, Wisconsin.

The written portion of my project can be viewed on ProQuest if you’d like to read more about the pieces and how I executed this project. You can fill out this form if you wish to be notified when the pieces are published, when the recordings are released, and/or other project updates.

I will be presenting my Master’s Degree Recital on Monday, February 28 at 6:00 p.m. in the Mead Witter Foundation Concert Hall at Hamel Music Center. I hope you can join me for an evening of great music!

I had such a wonderful time rehearsing and performing in Miami Beach earlier this month. Here is one of my favorite performances with no shortage of oboe solos.

Watch here! (concert begins at 25:00)

South Florida Classical Review of our performance

Program:
Rossini – Overture L’Italiana in Algeri
Mozart – Symphony No. 40
Perry – A Short Piece for Orchestra
Falla – El Amor Brujo

One of the most poignant musical events in which I have participated is this concert with the Miami Music Festival Orchestra commemorating the tragedy of the Surfside building collapse.

The second movement from Dvorak’s Symphony No. 9 is at 1:12:30 in the video.

tesobe.org

Keslie Pharis awarded 2021 Austin B. Caswell Award

I invite you to tune in to my recital live stream on Friday, April 16 at 7:30 EDT/6:30 CST! Here is the official recital program. Please enjoy this exciting music I have prepared with such wonderful humans and musicians!

I’m so excited to announce that I’ve accepted the Paul J. Collins Wisconsin Distinguished Graduate Fellowship to study at UW-Madison for my MM with Lindsay Flowers! I can’t wait to begin this fall in a vibrant community with such wonderful people. Thanks to everyone who has supported me in this process, and Go Badgers!

P.S. I am currently accepting new students in Madison into my private studio who would like to begin via Zoom and transition to in-person instruction as early as mid-August.

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This summer I will be attending the John Mack Oboe Camp in Little Switzerland, NC and then returning to the MasterWorks Festival in Spartanburg, SC. I look forward to my time studying with renowned teachers in such a beautiful part of the country! Please view the MasterWorks website for more information, including concerts, events, dates, and more.
https://masterworksfestival.org/