Rachel Auestad is 16 years old and lives in Bellevue, Washington.  She plays oboe, English horn, oboe d’amour, alto saxophone, piano, and clarinet.  Her favorite instruments are English horn and oboe d’amour because of their unique sound and tonal quality.  She is a junior at Bellevue High School and a member of that school’s upper division band under the direction of Vince Caruso.  Rachel is a student of Glen Danielson, principal English hornist with the Seattle Symphony and John DeJarnatt, recently retired oboist with the Seattle Symphony.  She has also taken master classes in oboe with John Mack and Alex Klein, classes in baroque oboe with Sand Dalton, and classes in English horn with Thomas Stacy.  Besides performing with Eastside Symphony, Rachel has performed with Orchestra Seattle, Washington Wind Symphony, Bellevue Youth Symphony Orchestra, and Village Theatre’s Summer Stock program.  She is a regular soloist at her church, a guest performer with her school’s orchestra, and put together the 20-piece pit orchestra needed for last year’s school musical.  Rachel plans to be a music major in college and is starting the process of looking at various schools.  Besides her music, Rachel has a special interest in classic muscle cars and musical theatre.

Rachel wants to say a special thank you to her oboe mentor, Fred Fox, for introducing her to the oboe and to this piece for oboe d’amour.  She would also like to thank Maestro Girsch and all of the members of Eastside Symphony for their support and mentoring – and for making music challenging, rewarding, and fun.  Thanks to Mom and Dad for all that driving you had to do before I got the driver’s license.  If I couldn’t get there then, I wouldn’t be here now.