Woodwinds
DR. SCOTT WRIGHT
CLARINET instructor/Band Director
Clarinetist Scott Wright is the Professor of Clarinet at the University of Kentucky, a position he has held since 2002. He is also a member of the esteemed McCracken Faculty Wind Quintet, and Chair of the Winds—Percussion—Jazz Division in the School of Music. In a career spanning nearly three decades, Dr. Wright has performed and taught in a wide variety of settings including the public schools, universities, chamber and orchestral ensembles, and as a soloist. He has been featured as both a conductor and clarinetist the conferences of the International Clarinet Association, National Band Association, College Band Directors National Association, the International Double Reed Society, the National Collegiate Choral Organization, the Midwest Clinic, and the American Choral Directors Association. Since 1997, he has appeared frequently with pianist Linda Halloin (Duo Pegasus) as a guest artist, and has presented numerous concerts and masterclasses at colleges and universities throughout the country as well as in Europe, Canada, and Asia.
Dr. Wright keeps busy as a conductor and soloist with high school and middle school bands and serves as clarinet instructor and band director at music camps and festivals in Wisconsin, Oregon, and Kentucky, as well as a clarinet instructor and consultant for the American Band College-Sam Houston State University. Dr. Wright holds degrees from the University of Michigan and Arizona State University, and he is a Selmer Performing Artist.
ELISe blatcford
FLUTE INSTRUCTOR - new in 2026!
Praised by the Cleveland Plain Dealer for her “superb command of color and nuance,” Elise Blatchford is the Associate Professor of Flute at the University of Memphis Scheidt School of Music in Tennessee. A chamber musician, soloist, orchestral musician, and teacher, Ms. Blatchford is a flutist who embraces the independent, the experimental, and the DIY. As a founding member of the new music woodwind quintet The City of Tomorrow, Ms. Blatchford won first prize at the 2011 Fischoff National Chamber Music Competition and received a Chamber Music America Classical Commissioning grant in 2014. The quintet tours nationally and has enjoyed residencies at Yale, Tufts, Vermont College of Fine Arts, and Williams College. Ms. Blatchford has appeared with the International Contemporary Ensemble in New York and at the Banff Centre for Creativity in Alberta, Canada.
As a recitalist, Ms. Blatchford frequently programs music of the 20th and 21st centuries, and has been an invited guest at venues across the U.S., including the Dame Myra Hess Series at the Chicago Cultural Center, Yale University, the University of Oregon, and Virginia Tech.
Also at home in the traditional orchestra world, Ms. Blatchford served as Guest Principal Flute for the Memphis Symphony Orchestra's 2018-19 season. She has performed with the Oregon Symphony, the Phoenix Symphony, the Civic Orchestra of Chicago, IRIS Orchestra, and the YOA Orchestra of the Americas. With YOA, she toured extensively throughout South America, the Caribbean, and mainland China, made an appearance at Carnegie Hall, and recorded with Philip Glass.
Ms. Blatchford holds degrees in flute performance from the Oberlin Conservatory of Music and the San Francisco Conservatory. A Powell Artist, she performs on a 14K gold handmade Powell flute.
Cat Cantrell
OBOE INSTRUCTOR - NEW IN 2026!
Cat Cantrell is based in Los Angeles - enamored with the vast possibilities in music, she can be found performing and recording in many genres. Cat is a member of the Redlands Symphony and the West Coast Wind Quintet. An avid freelancer, she regularly performs with orchestras and choirs throughout California, including the Los Angeles Philharmonic, San Diego Symphony, Pacific Symphony, Modesto Symphony, and Fresno Philharmonic, welcoming chamber projects and other opportunities along the way.
Hailing from an Air Force family, she is an eager traveler -Cat has worked across the US with organizations like the New York Philharmonic, Virginia Symphony, Sarasota Orchestra, Boise Philharmonic, Juneau Symphony, and on tours of China, Europe, and Canada. She was the English hornist for the Tucson Symphony Orchestra in Arizona for six seasons while living and freelancing in New York City. During that dual life she had the privilege of performing in Carnegie Hall and in every hall at Lincoln Center.
Cat relishes opportunities to work with composers to elevate new and unheard works - particularly those featuring the English horn. While living in New York, she performed regularly with the Double Entendre Music Ensemble. She loves working with singers of all stripes and has performed for opera companies, choirs, cabarets, and on albums for Country Western, Bluegrass, Jazz, Pop, Folk, Crossover, and Metal artists.
As a Teaching Artist, Cat works with students in the YOLA (Youth Orchestra Los Angeles) program as a substitute for all woodwinds at several sites across LA. She has previously worked with MMC (Musical Mentors Collaborative), Harmony Project, and at Usdan Summer Camp for the Arts in Long Island, NY.
Cat earned an MM in Oboe Performance studying with Sherry Sylar at Mannes, and a BM in Oboe Performance from Florida State University. Cat has appeared on stage with drag queens, in musical theater pits, and on soundtracks for television and feature films.
DR. Adam Farmer
Bassoon Instructor
Dr. Adam Farmer is an active performer of orchestral and chamber music and a recent transplant to Salem, Oregon. As a bassoonist, Adam has performed with orchestras across the Pacific Northwest and Midwest including the Oregon Symphony, Oregon Festival Orchestra, Walla Walla Symphony, Newport Symphony Orchestra, Lansing Symphony Orchestra, Jackson Symphony Orchestra, and the West Michigan Symphony.
Adam is also an enthusiastic proponent of community outreach and audience engagement. Before moving to Oregon, Adam regularly performed at public parks, elementary schools, museums, and assisted living facilities with his woodwind quintet, the Verdant Winds. The Verdant Winds quickly became known as innovative and thoughtful presenters of interactive concert programs and were featured in a presentation on educational engagement strategies at the Michigan Music Conference in 2018.
Adam received his Doctor of Musical Arts in Bassoon Performance from Michigan State University and also holds degrees from Kent State University and the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music. His primary instructors include Michael Kroth, David DeBolt, William Winstead, and Martin James.
owen evans
saxophone instructor
Owen Evans is a saxophonist, clarinetist, flutist, composer, and educator located in Portland. He has a B.M. in Music Education from Central Washington University and is currently pursuing his Master’s degree in jazz studies from Portland State University. Owen has performed saxophone and flute in various ensembles, from traditional jazz big bands to bluegrass string bands. He hails from Seattle where he performed with Tinkham Road, recorded on their latest release Tomorrow Brings Another, and appeared on Battlestar Kalakala's latest release Live at the Skylark. Owen believes in finding creative approaches to skill development and incorporating improvisation, composition, and fun in all types of music learning.