The quartet is based in Connecticut and performs entertaining and educational concerts in various combinations of oboe, oboe d’amore, English horn and bassoon. They met while playing in various musical groups over the years, and developed a special bond with each other.
The members are Tamar Beach Wells - oboe, Marilyn Krentzman - oboe d'amor, Johanna Lamb - English horn, and Rebecca Noreen - bassoon.
The Coastal Reeds give recitals, school, and family programs throughout Connecticut. Our many engagements have included the Congregational Church of Burlington, the Centerbrook Meetinghouse, Guilford Community Center, Calvary Church in Stonington, the East Lyme, Trumbull and Westerly Public Libraries, the La Grua Center in Stonington, Live Lunch Break in New London, Connecticut College, and International Festival of Arts and Ideas in New Haven. We also perform and educate Senior Citizens locally, venues have been StoneRidge, Masonicare at Mystic, Avery Heights, Whitney Center, New London Senior Center, East Lyme Senior Center, Beechwood Post Acute & Transitional Care, The Lymes' Senior Center, Waterford Senior Center, The Willows at Worcester, and Institute for Learning in Retirement at Woodbridge Library.
We also premiered a work by Dale Wilson at the International Double Reed Conference. We have commissions and arrangements from composers Lewis J. Buckley, Thomas Briggs, and Daniel Baldwin.
At Bristow Middle school in West Hartford, Regional Multicultural Magnet School in New London, Henry James School in Simsbury, Canton Middle School, Riverfront Children's Center on "Make Music Day", and at Bravo Waterbury! we taught students through our workshop and education class "Double Reeds: Mission Possible". We also led a workshop at the 2017 CMEA conference for Music Directors and Teachers.
We have performed individually with the United States Coast Guard Band, Hartford Symphony Orchestra, Eastern Connecticut Symphony Orchestra, Rhode Island Philharmonic Orchestra, New Haven Symphony Orchestra, Greater Bridgeport Symphony, Borealis Wind Quintet, Connecticut Virtuosi and many other groups throughout New England. We also all have private studios and teach at institutions such as Connecticut College, Thames Valley Music School, and Calvary Music School.