Peyton Beebe, oboe
Peyton Beebe is an oboist and a music educator who currently resides in Downingtown, Pennsylvania. Peyton has received a B.S in Music Education from The West Chester University of Pennsylvania in the Spring of 2022 During her time as an undergraduate, she was very involved in the music community. She played the tuba for three years in the Incomparable Golden Rams Marching Band, as well as Mellophone in the Sixth Man Basketball Band, holding leadership positions in both groups Peyton was also a brother of Kappa Kappa Psi in the Eta Rho chapter where she held the position of Assistant Vice President of Membership. In addition, she was a member of the NAFME-Chapter. Peyton held her senior recital in the Fall of 2021, and student taught with elementary and middle school band students leading up to graduation.
Peyton is originally from Bethany Beach DE. She fell in love with music when she was in fifth grade at Lord Baltimore Elementary School. She started on the flute and had the honor of performing in her county band once she reached middle school. Going into high school, her band director Nathan Mohler gave her the opportunity to switch to the oboe. This changed her life forever. During her undergraduate years of college, she started teaching with Tot Rock, an early childhood music program specializing in ages 0-4 general music making. There, she fell in love with teaching younger students, and has since become the lead teacher. She has been teaching at Tot Rock for the past three years and has since expanded to teach toddler music classes at the Appell Center of York.
Peyton is currently a Music Education graduate assistant to Dr. Marci Major. She plays principal oboe with the West Chester University Wind Ensemble and Chamber Winds. On top of participating in multiple ensembles, Peyton also teaches on staff with the Upper Moreland High School Marching Unit as a woodwind specialist/visual technician. Additionally, she has received her Orff Level 1 certificate from the Samuel Barber Institute in the summer of 2023, and has traveled for professional development opportunities such as Midwest International Band and Orchestra Clinic, and Pennsylvania Music Educator’s Association Conference.
Following graduation, Peyton hopes to teach elementary or middle school music in a public school system. She is very excited to inspire and excite her students about music education When she is not playing music, Peyton is spending time with her beloved family: Charlene, Andy, and her brothers Kyle and Sam. She likes to bake, play board games, shop til she drops, and spend time with her cats Oreo and Cherry.
Dedicated to Pap and Grandma
Gavotte, MichaelHead(1900-1976)
Michael Head is an English composer, whose musical studies began at the age of twelve with Jean Adir, a student of Clara Schumann. He studied at the Royal Academy of Music in 1919, where he would end up later in his life as an instructor. He composed and performed a wide variety of music including works for oboe and piano, children’s opera, and cantatas. Some of his most famous pieces include Elegiac Dance and Presto (1954), The Bachelor Mouse (1951), Daphne and Apollo (1964), and After the Wedding (1970). He passed away in Cape Town in August 1976.
Gavotte was written for oboist Evelyn Rothwell in 1954. This piece can be described as simplistic and elegant. Unlike most oboe solos, Gavotte features the oboe and piano in a conversation format, with back-and-forth musical phrases between the two instruments. It also highlights many time signature, key signature, and mood changes. In the beginning of the piece, the main theme is established by the oboe, which is then transposed throughout the movement. Gavotte starts out very slow and lyrical, but then in the middle of the piece transitions to Vigoroso, which depicts a more intense tone. Finally, before the ending, it slows down back to its initial tempo.
Sonatina,GordonJacob(1895-1984)
Gordon Jacob is an English composer who started out his musical career enlisting in the Infantry, before going to study music at the Royal College of Music in London in 1917. He returned to the Royal College of Music in 1926 and taught for 40 years prior to his retirement. There he taught many pupils such as Malcolm Arnold, Imogen Holst, Joseph Horovitz, Elizabeth Maconchy and Bernard Stevens. Jacob composed works featuring almost every genre of music. He composed Overtures, Quintets, Sonatas, Concertinos, Concertos, Fanfares, and much more. Gordon Jacob composed over 700 works. He reached many impressive feats throughout his musical career, such as arranging the National Anthem with Fanfare for Queen Elizabeth II’s Coronation, having his own BBC TV documentary, and receiving awards such as the CBE in the Queen’s New Year’s Honours List in 1968. He passed away in June of 1984.
Gordon Jacob’s Sonatina is divided into four movements, with classical structure of “slow, fast, slow, fast”. The four movements are titled Adagio, Allegro Giocoso, Lento alla Sarabanda, and Allegro Molto Vivace.
Pastorale,HowardHanson(1896-1981)
Howard Hanson is an American composer whose independent style and contributions to music education have shaped the field of Romantic music and music education. Hanson had many travels throughout his lifetime which involved performing and learning music, such as San Jose California, Italy, Europe, the Soviet Union, and the Middle East. His primary gig was being the director of the Eastman School of Music in Rochester, NY. He held this position until his retirement in 1964. He had many remarkable contributions and awards given to him throughout his lifetime, such as the Pulitzer Prize, winning the American Prix De Rome, and forming music festivals around the world. Although he boasts an individual musical style, he is influenced by Jean Sibelius and Modest Mussorgsky.
His piece Pastorale was written for his wife, Peggie Nelson. It has similar features to a Concertino, specifically because it is only one movement, but features different mood and tempo changes. This was a very ambitious piece for an oboe player because of the extended range and demand for expressive musicality. It has scalar 7-let runs, low octave notes, and many opportunities for the player to showcase the changes in tone and texture. Something that is very notable about this piece is the technique required for the Poco piu mosso section, where the player must navigate switching between the left D# key, C# key, and regular D#/Eb key. This is a challenge, that will produce incredible reward if done correctly.
FirstConcertino,GeorgesGuilhaud(1851-1889)
Georges Guilhaud was a French composer who lived in the late 1800’s. Not much is known about Georges Guilhaud, however he is remembered for his First Concertino for oboe and piano, First Concertino for alto saxophone and piano, and a concertino for oboe and orchestra.
First Concertino has a very specific structure, defined by New Grove as, “a work with solo instrument, or instruments, less ambitious in scale than a concerto, often with few movements or cast in one movement with changes of speed and character.” Guilhaud’s concertino begins with two recitative like cadenzas in the oboe, following a very brief piano introduction. This allows the musician to start out very soloistic and showcase control in the instrument. Finally, the main motif comes in and gets tossed around throughout the entire movement. The movement is split up into three main parts: the Moderato, Andante, and Allegretto. Each portion presents its own assortment of rhythmic and musicality challenges.