About Us:

Dr. Christa Garvey, Professor of Oboe, has taught at the University of Wisconsin, Eau Claire since 2003. Her degrees are from Indiana University and the University of Colorado.  Dr. Garvey continually questions what it means to be a modern musician and has made exciting transformations in the areas of entrepreneurship, pedagogy, and innovation. A founding member of the Virtualosity Ensemble in 2011, she used technology to rehearse in an online environment while members were over 500 miles apart. Devoted to creating new and unique performing opportunities, she formed the Notorious Ensemble, joining UWEC faculty and select students in unique performing locations and projects. Recent projects include outreach work in urban schools and a project that combined works by student composers with an aerialist dance troupe. Her Oboe For Everyone (www.oboeforeveryone.com) connects students and teachers from around the globe with free teaching and learning resources.  Dr. Garvey has long been a champion of performing and teaching music by composers from traditionally excluded backgrounds and upcoming projects tie together these interests by creating accessible resources to diversify the pedagogical canon.

Dr. Garvey is a frequent recitalist, orchestral oboist, and chamber musician.  Solo and chamber music engagements have taken her across the US and abroad in Germany and Japan. She performs/presents regularly at International Double Reed Society Conferences, at conferences for the College Music Society, National Association for College Wind and Percussion Instructors (NACWPI), and as a visiting guest artist throughout the U.S. 

In her free time, Dr. Garvey enjoys being outside, whether that means commuting around town by bike, training for an ultra trail marathon, or enjoying a sunrise kayak paddle. Along with her husband, who works for an expedition travel company, she has sought out a wide array of outdoor adventures, including running/camping through the mountains of New Hampshire on the Appalachian Trail, swimming with hammerhead sharks in the Galapagos Islands, kayaking with bears and whales in S.E. Alaska, and exploring the nesting colonies of penguins on the Antarctic Peninsula.

Lauren Ische is a senior at UW-Eau Claire studying Instrumental Music Education, and she is from Victoria, Minnesota. She began playing the oboe in middle school and since coming to Eau Claire, has been involved in numerous ensembles. She has played in the University Orchestra, Wind Symphony, and a multitude of chamber groups, including Accord Wind Quintet and Idyllic Reeds. She works as music librarian for the music department, and beside playing oboe, she enjoys doing crossword puzzles, going to the gym, and taking care of her house plants.

Bailey Dean is a third-year student from Palatine, Illinois and she is studying Instrumental Music Education at UW-Eau Claire. Bailey has been playing oboe since high school and also plays the clarinet as a member of the Blugold Marching Band. Other ensembles she has been involved in on campus are the UWEC Wind Symphony and Symphony Band. Bailey is also a member of the Epsilon Omicron chapter of Sigma Alpha Iota and serves as the chapter’s Editor. On campus, she can be found completing duties as a Resident Assistant for campus housing or getting coffee with friends at various places around Eau Claire. Outside of oboe and college life, she enjoys travelling, most recently a tour of California starting in San Francisco and ending in Disneyland. Bailey also loves watching Star Wars movies and sitting down with a good book.

Peyton Tohulka is a second-year Comprehensive Music Education major with an emphasis on instrumental music at the University of Wisconsin—Eau Claire. Hailing from Sussex, Wisconsin, her primary instruments are the oboe and piano, both of which she has been playing for 10 years. In her time at the university thus far, Peyton has served as instrument manager for the UWEC Music Department, which entails loaning out of school instruments, preparing instruments for technique classes, and repairing instruments as necessary. She is a member of the UWEC Wind Symphony and UWEC Contemporary Ensemble, as well as Historian of the Epsilon Omicron chapter of Sigma Alpha Iota Music Fraternity. In her free time, Peyton tries to stay as active as possible. Her two favorite activities are bouldering at local rock-climbing gyms and spinning flag, rifle, and sabre as a part of the Blugold Marching Band Colorguard.