About.
Ensemble Bambou is an outgrowth of the collaboration between Cheryl Hill and Maude Fish that dates back to 1989. The two have been performing together in various chamber groups, including an award-winning quintet, since that time. As Wes states in his bio, he joined the group in 2005. Ensemble Bambou takes its origins as a reed trio. Wind players such as bassoonists, oboists, and clarinetists, among others, have to contend on a daily basis with the side-craft of creating and maintaining their own reeds. For oboists and bassoonists, these reeds are made from the gauging of the inside of a stick of bamboo - hence the name of the group. Flutist, Carrie Rose, as the only non-reed player in the group, has been a core member for three years. A highlight of our collaboration with Carrie, Ensemble Bambou premiered Inside Out, a composition by Ms. Rose, in 2013 on her Origins concert series. The Ensemble occasionally expands to include French Horn, allowing the group to explore the rich offerings of repertoire for wind quintet.
Maude Fish, bassoonist, holds a B.A. in Music from Smith College, and Masters in Music Performance in Bassoon from New England Conservatory where she studied with the late Matthew Ruggiero and Sherman Walt, both formerly of the Boston Symphony Orchestra. Her dedication to chamber music dates back to summers during high-school years spent at the Kinhaven Music School (VT), studying both piano and bassoon in chamber groups. In subsequent years, she pursued her chamber music interests further with fellowships to attend for two summers the Blossom Music School (summer home of the Cleveland Symphony Orchestra) where the focus is entirely on chamber music. Attendance at other festivals includes the Grand Teton Orchestral Seminar, and the American Institute of Musical Studies in Graz, Austria. Maude plays regularly with the Amadeus and Virginia Chamber Orchestras, as well as the Arlington Philharmonic and the Chesapeake Orchestra. She teaches piano and bassoon privately.
Cheryl Hill, clarinetist, received a Bachelor of Music Degree from the New England Conservatory of Music and a Master of Musical Arts Degree from SUNY Stony Brook. She currently plays as the principal clarinetist in the National Philharmonic Orchestra and performed as second clarinetist in the Baltimore Opera Company from 1990 until the Company closed its doors in 2009. Her love of chamber music developed at the Marlboro Music Festival (VT) and the Yale Summer School of Music where she formed a group, Quartet Montage, that won first place in the International Chamber Music Competition (NYC, 1983). This prize culminated in a debut performance at Carnegie Recital Hall. Cheryl teaches at the Washington Conservatory of Music.
Wes Nichols, oboist, holds Bachelor and Master in Oboe Performance Degrees from The Manhattan School of Music in New York where he studied with Henry Schumann, Elaine Douvas, and Joseph Robinson. He is a former member of the Springfield Symphony Orchestra (MA), the Group for Contemporary Music , and the New Music Consort (NYC). After moving to the DC Metro area, he began to freelance extensively and became principal oboist of the Arlington Symphony Orchestra (now the Arlington Philharmonic), the Amadeus Chamber Orchestra, and the McLean Symphony Orchestra. He joined Ensemble Bambou in 2005.
Carrie Rose, flutist, performs and teaches in the DC area. She is producer, composer, and performer for the Origins Concert Series in Silver Spring, MD - a hub for adventurous music seekers that features a world premiere on each concert. Her work has received numerous grants from the MD State Arts Council, the Arts and Humanities Commission of Montgomery County, and the American Composers Forum. An enthusiast of chamber music, she is a member of inHale: a collective of flutists with a mission to seek out exciting and adventurous duo repertoire that utilizes each member of the flute family (piccolo, flute, alto flute, bass flute). In DC's City Paper, Carrie was named a "favorite local composer." She earned Bachelor and Master of Music Degrees from The Cleveland Institute of Music where she studied with Joshua Smith, principal flutist of the Cleveland Symphony Orchestra. www.rosearts.org