Ann Lemke
Oboe, Oboe d’amore, English horn
A polished performer
Soloist, chamber and orchestral musician
New Oboe Salon album of women composers released in 2022
Guest soloist for concert series and religious services
Specializing in the interpretation of J.S. Bach
Commissioned and recorded new works
Principal Oboist, Rochester Symphony Orchestra and the International Symphony Orchestra
A dedicated teacher
On music faculty at Cranbrook School since 2000
Large, thriving studio
Coach for woodwind ensembles and school sectionals
Michigan School Band & Orchestra Association adjudicator
Instructor at International Double Reed Society Teen Camp
Taught at Indiana University, Oakland University, The University of Georgia, and the University of Bonn
Author and public speaker
Music by Women Composers — lecture-recitals in English or German
Music as a Lifelong Companion — presentation of music and spoken word that has brought joy and comfort to audiences of all ages.
Life as a Performer / Teacher presentation for The Juilliard School Woodwind Department Seminar
Inspired by Goethe: Songs by Women Composers of the 18th & 19th Centuries
Bettine’s Song: The Musical Voice of Bettine von Arnim, née Brentano (Diss. Indiana University)
Fulbright Grant for research on women composers in Germany
Biography
Oboist Ann Lemke performs internationally as a soloist, chamber musician and orchestral musician and is a dedicated teacher with a thriving private studio in Metro Detroit. On her new album, Oboe Salon, she plays works for oboe, oboe d’amore and English horn by women composers with pianist Amanda Sabelhaus. She is principal oboist with the International Symphony Orchestra, comprised of US and Canadian members, and with the Rochester Symphony, and has performed with many ensembles, including the Detroit Chamber Winds and Strings and the Pastiche Wind Quintet.
Career highlights include performing with the Detroit Symphony Orchestra at Meadowbrook Music Festival and as principal oboist for the American Sinfonietta European Tour. She was invited to perform as English hornist at the Orcas Island Chamber Music Festival, appearing in concerts dedicated to the memory of legendary oboist Laila Storch in August 2023. Specializing in the interpretation of works by J.S. Bach, Ann has been a featured soloist with numerous choral groups. Contemporary composers have sought her out to perform and record their works. During the pandemic, she commissioned and recorded new works that are exciting additions to the oboe family repertoire.
In March 2020, Ann Lemke transitioned her renowned Oboe Studio to fully online to continue offering quality instruction and enriching opportunities to students of all ages, including the Summer Oboe Seminar. Since 2000, she has been a member of the Cranbrook Schools music faculty. She serves as an adjudicator for the Michigan School Band and Orchestra Association (MSBOA), is in demand as a coach for woodwind ensembles and sectionals, and has taught at the International Double Reed Society (IDRS) Teen Camp. Recognized as an expert in teaching young musicians, Dr. Lemke was also invited to present to The Juilliard School Woodwind Department Seminar. Her oboe students have been selected to perform with youth orchestras and community ensembles, won concerto competitions and scholarships to prestigious universities and music camps, and consistently achieved high scores at festivals.
As an undergraduate, Ann studied Oboe Performance at the Manhattan School of Music with Elaine Douvas. Other influential teachers include esteemed oboists John Mack, Ray Still, Marc Lifschey, Joseph Robinson, Donald Baker, Daniel Stolper, Linda Strommen, and Jeannette Bittar.
Ann Lemke’s scholarly interest in women composers has informed her innovative programming of works by women whose works she is passionate about making more widely known. She gave the modern day premiere of the Oboe Concerto by Clémence de Grandval in the USA and Canada with the International Symphony Orchestra. A Fulbright scholar to Germany, Dr. Lemke has published numerous articles on German women composers (early publications under the name Ann Willison). The collection of Goethe Songs by Women Composers that she edited (Furore Verlag) was made into a CD on the Salto label.
In recognition of her expertise, Ann received several fellowships to support further research on women composers, including a Beinecke Fellowship at Yale University, a Weimar Stipend for research in Weimar, and a German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) Grant for study in Bonn, Germany. The Bettina von Arnim Society awarded her a research prize for her pioneering work on von Arnim’s musical voice. Dr. Lemke has taught interdisciplinary courses in Music, Women’s Studies, Literature, and German at Indiana University (where she completed the Ph.D. in Comparative Literature) and at Oakland University.
Ann Lemke is a member of the American Federation of Musicians and the Detroit Federation of Musicians, Local 5. She and her husband live in Troy, Michigan and have three children whom they raised bilingually.
Music by Women Composers
is a theme in my performing, teaching, writing, speaking and research. I am passionate about bringing works by women composers to a wider audience. My first publications were while I was a graduate student and appeared under the name Ann Willison. The following is a selection of my projects:
Ginkgoh Salon
Pianist Amanda Sabelhaus & I perform beautiful music in your home or venue. Please see the Ginkgoh Salon page for information on our new album of music by 19th century women composers.
Contemporary Women Composers
Trailblazer: Dedicated to Laila Storch by Alyssa Morris. English hornist for the West Coast Premiere at Orcas Island Chamber Music Festival, August 2023.
Commissions from Quarantine. Three new works by Oregon composer Kimberly Osberg that I commissioned and recorded in 2020. The recordings are on the lemkestudio YouTube playlist, and sheet music is available on Kimberly Osberg’s website.
Goethe Songs by Women Composers
Inspired by Goethe: Songs by Women Composers of the 18th and 19th Centuries. 23 songs with poems by Goethe, including several first publications, selected and edited with an introduction and critical notes in German, English summary. Furore-Edition 630. Made into a CD on the Salto label.
Lecture recitals on Goethe Songs by Women Composers at the Anthroposophical Society in Ann Arbor, MI; at Oakland University, and Houghton College. Papers with music examples presented at numerous conferences in the United States and Germany.
Clémence de Grandval (1828-1907)
US and Canadian premiere performances of Grandval's Concerto for Oboe (Lajos Lencsés orchestration) with the International Symphony Orchestra, May 2012. US premiere performance of Grandval’s Lamento & Scherzo with the International Symphony Orchestra, March 2022.
Performance of Grandval’s Andante espressivo and Final for English horn and piano with Jon Kimura Parker at the Orcas Island Chamber Music Festival, August 2023.
Presentation of works by Grandval dedicated to the legendary oboist Georges Gillet, performed in honor of the 100th anniversary of Gillet's death at the International Double Reed Society (IDRS) Conference 2020, postponed until the IDRS Virtual Conference in July 2021. Ann Lemke, oboe and Amanda Sabelhaus, piano perform Grandval’s Lamento & Scherzo. Listen to the presentation here: Clémence de Grandval: Inspired by Georges Gillet.
Lecture recital of works by Grandval for oboe, cello and piano at Cranbrook School.
Bettina von Arnim (1785-1859)
Bettine's Song: The Musical Voice of Bettine von Arnim, née Brentano (1785-1859) Ph.D. Dissertation, Indiana University, 1998.
“Bettines Beethoven: Wahrheit und Dichtung”. Article in German about the relationship between Bettine von Arnim and Beethoven in the book Maßstab Beethoven? Komponistinnen im Schatten des Geniekults
Article on Bettina von Arnim in Oxford Music Online (Grove Online).
“Bettine von Arnim (1785-1859),” in Women Composers: Music by Women Through the Ages vol. 4 Composers Born 1700-1799: Vocal Music. Includes four songs of Bettine von Arnim.
“Bettina Brentano-von Arnim: The Unknown Musician” in Bettina Brentano-von Arnim: Gender and Politics ed. Elke Frederiksen and Katherine Goodman. Book chapter with musical examples and photos.
“Bettine von Arnim Liederabend” lecture recital with US premiere performances of von Arnim’s songs at the University of Georgia Athens.
Johanna Kinkel (1810-1858)
“‘Alles Schaffen ist wohl eine Wechselwirkung von Inspiration und Willen’: Johanna Kinkel als Komponistin”. Article on Johanna Kinkel in German that includes the first comprehensive catalog of her works in chronological order which has served as a basis for scholars’ further research. In the book Annäherung IX -- an sieben Komponistinnen Furore-Edition 894
Article on Johanna Kinkel in Oxford Music Online (Grove Online)
“Heran Demokratie!" lecture recital in honor of the 150th anniversary of the 1848 revolution in Germany, including works of Johanna Kinkel, Robert Schumann and Franz Schubert at the Beethoven-Haus Bonn.