Darlene Franz

Instructor of Oboe & Recorder

DMA University of Washington

MM University of Washington

BA University of California, Davis

Dr. Darlene Franz enjoys an active freelance career, appearing as a soloist, chamber music collaborator, and orchestral musician throughout the Pacific Northwest and beyond. She is a sought-after performer on both modern and historical oboes, and has played with Seattle Baroque, Seattle Pro Musica, the Northwest Sinfonietta, Pacific Baroque Orchestra (Vancouver, B. C.), California Bach Society, and the Seattle Bach Choir among many other groups. In 2018 she gave the West Coast premiere of Joseph Pollard White’s Concerto for oboe d’amore and orchestra with the Thalia Symphony. Recent engagements include oboe soloist for Musical Prayer and Taizé services at St. James Cathedral, and as English hornist for The Passion of St. Thomas More, a chamber opera by Garrett Fisher, at Texas A&M University. Dr. Franz studied oboe with Rebecca Henderson, Alex Klein, and Robert Hubbard. Additional studies with John Mack and Margriet Tindemans profoundly influenced her musical development.

A respected educator, Dr. Franz maintains a large private teaching studio, and is a frequent adjudicator and coach, most recently for Seattle Youth Symphony’s Endangered Instruments Program and for Vivace Chamber Players. From 2006-2017 she coordinated and taught in the recorder program for all third graders at West Woodland Elementary School, and has directed adult recorder consorts at the University of California, Davis and St. Stephen's Episcopal Church, Seattle. As a member of the Philharmonic Wind Quintet from 1998–2015, she introduced the sound of the oboe to over 200,000 elementary school students throughout Western Washington.

Click here to sign up for lessons with Darlene!