Rocket City Reed Day

Registration I Schedule of Events I Guest Artists I Faculty

Join us for the inaugural Rocket City Reed Day, presented by the UAH Department of Music, on Saturday, November 9, 2024, in Roberts Hall on the campus of the University of Alabama in Huntsville.

All reed students (oboe, clarinet, bass clarinet, saxophone, and bassoon) in grades 6-12 are invited to join us for a day of reed activities! 

Registration is FREE but REQUIRED to attend.

Registration includes: 

• Lunch at the Charger Café
• A Rocket City Reed Day t-shirt
• Instrument-specific classes and All-State etude sessions
• Instrument choirs: double reed choir, clarinet choir, and saxophone choir
• Special topic workshops such as reed making (oboe & bassoon) and performance anxiety
• Two brief concerts featuring the instrumental choirs where door prizes will also be awarded
• Vendors and more!

Registration for the 2024 Rocket City Reed Day is NOW OPEN! 

In addition to our outstanding UAH reed faculty, we are happy to welcome guest artists Paul and Leah Forsyth of Three Reeds Duo and Taylor Smith, Principal Bassoon of the Huntsville Symphony and newly appointed Assistant Principal Bassoon of the Alabama Symphony Orchestra. Read more about our guests and UAH reed faculty in the biographies below.

All Rocket City Reed Day participants, along with their parents/guardians, are invited to attend a special performance by the Three Reeds Duo on Friday, November 8, at 7:30 PM in Roberts Recital Hall. This concert is part of the UAH Constellation Series and is free for Reed Day attendees! A discount code for tickets will be provided to registered participants closer to the event.

Rocket City Reed Day is hosted by Jen Case, Taylor Barlow and, the UAH Department of Music.

For questions or more information:

• Oboes & Bassoons: Contact Jennifer.Case@uah.edu
• Clarinets & Saxophones: Contact Taylor.Barlow@uah.edu

Register

To register, fill out the registration form. Registration will remain open until the event, as long as space allows. Register early to guarantee your t-shirt. 

Schedule of Events

If viewing on a mobile device, use the scroll bar to see the complete schedule.  

What to bring

All students are asked to bring their instruments, reeds, instrument-specific accessories, reed-making tools (oboes/bassoons), and a pencil. Please bring a copy of your All-State music and scales to follow along in the class. Music stands and chairs will be provided.

Guest Artists

Three Reeds Duo

With co-founders Leah and Paul Forsyth, the Three Reeds Duo is a unique ensemble consisting of solely an oboe and saxophone. This duo, formed in 2005, has begun building a repertoire catalogue for this unique combination of instruments, ranging from newly commissioned works, to transcriptions of standard repertoire.  Three Reeds has performed in a variety of venues throughout the United States, Europe, and South America, ranging from World Saxophone Congresses to International Double Reed Society conventions and collegiate recitals. In 2015 and 2018, Three Reeds was the winner of the Alford Professorship at Northwestern State University, where they are both professors on their respective instruments. These professorships allowed them to record their debut CD, signals cross, as well as their second album, Metamorphosis. Released in the summer of 2016, signals cross was the first CD ever recorded of oboe/saxophone duos. Three Reeds Duo has now commissioned works from such composers as Gregory Wanamaker, Marcus Maroney, Kyle Blaha, Alyssa Morris, Richard Rose, and Peter Lieuwen, Thomas Hundemer, Joshua Burel, Derek Brown and O’Neal Douglas.

Taylor Smith

Bassoonist Taylor Smith, is an orchestral, opera, and chamber musician based in New York City. He is Principal Bassoon of the Huntsville Symphony Orchestra and Missouri Symphony, and was recently appointed Assistant Principal Bassoon of the Alabama Symphony Orchestra. Taylor has performed with ensembles such as the New York Philharmonic, New Haven Symphony, and Imani Winds, and with conductors including Jaap van Sweden, JoAnn Falletta, Alan Gilbert, and Kurt Masur.

Originally from Fulton, Missouri, he holds a bachelor’s degree in bassoon performance and musicology from the University of Kansas, a master’s degree in orchestral performance from Manhattan School of Music, and a professional studies diploma from the Mannes School of Music.

UAH Faculty

Jennifer Case, oboe

Taylor Barlow, clarinet

Melissa Koprowski, clarinet

Mary Balch, saxophone

Ben Maclay, bassoon

Jack Hontz, Director of Bands