Laura Reynolds
Designation : Principal, Jane and Nelson Weller Chair
Instrument : Oboe
Birth Place : Oneida, NY
Grew Up : New York State (Oneida (central), Sound Beach & Bohemia (both on Long Island) and Salamanca (Southern tier south of Buffalo).
Started Playing : I started piano lessons in 2nd grade, recorder in 3rd grade and oboe in 4th grade.
Education : BM from the University of Michigan and MM from the San Francisco Conservatory
Began with SRS : 1991
Non SRS : I am a member of California Symphony, Marin Symphony and Trois Bois, a wind trio. I also perform with a variety of other orchestras in the Bay Area.
Favorite Music : Classical? Mahler, hands down, but not the only favorite… I have too many favorites in too many genres to list!
In My iPod : Mostly non-classical artists…
Hobbies : Hiking and birdwatching
Email : laura_reynolds@comcast.net
Teaching : In addition to my home studio, I am on the applied music faculty at Sonoma State and the San Francisco Conservatory Pre – College and Extension Divisions
Bennie Cottone
Instrument : Oboe
Birth Place : San Mateo, CA
Grew Up : San Francisco, CA
Started Playing : Back when SF public schools all had a music teacher, my best friends’ parents were the teachers. Bob Martens started me on the clarinet in the fifth grade. When I arrived at Lowell High in 1969 I learned that the orchestra would be going to Japan the next year. They needed another oboe, not another clarinet. So I took an oboe home, got a teacher, and left the clarinet forever.
Education : Lowell High & SF State. And some big-name teachers. But REALLY, making millions of mistakes in life and somehow recovering and continuing to better myself, THAT’s the education.
Began with SRS : I began with the SRSO around 1980. Huh? Yes. I began one concert before the move to Luther Burbank (WFC). I remained as English Horn/second oboe for about 10 years. When I won the Principal Oboe position in the Monterey Symphony, scheduling difficulties led me to resign from the SRSO. To actually audition my way back in thirty years after I first played here is unheard-of and brings me immense pride.
Non SRS : Principal Oboe, Monterey Symphony; Principal Oboe , Santa Cruz Symphony, English Horn, The Berkeley Symphony---member since 1978; first-call English Horn sub, The SF Ballet Orchestra, sub work with; SF Symphony, Silicon Valley Symphony & Ballet, California Symphony, Oakland East Bay Symphony, Reno, Fresno, Sacramento and on and on. Tons of ballet and pit work---SF, SJ/Cleveland, Mark Morris, Stuttgart Ballet, Bolshoi Ballet, the Shorenstein Theaters, ABT, Joffrey , and others.
Favorite Music : I never answer “favorite” questions. What do you think this is?, a dating site?
In My iPod : I’m just not one of those people who walks around plugged in all the time.
Hobbies : Oboe players, when working, have little time for annoying little things like pleasurable activities. I do love to eat, and from that to prepare meals. THAT is a little pleasure which not even the oboe can deprive me of. I do live with a dachshund. Those of you also doing so will know exactly what I mean.
Email : bcsfeh@comcast.net Koko the Dachshund; kokosf@comcast.net
Teaching : I prefer to leave teaching to those who truly have the talent and love for it. I’m still trying to figure it all out.
Jesse Barrett
Designation : English Horn
Instrument : Oboe
Education : Boston University and the University of the Pacific
Began with SRS : 2015
Non SRS : Jesse is a musician of the Merced Symphony, the Reno Chamber Orchestra and Symphony Napa Valley.