Professor Leah Forsyth currently  serves as Assistant Professor of Oboe at Northwestern State University in Natchitoches, LA.  NSU boasts a fantastic and thriving School of Creative and Performing Arts.  There are great scholarships available to both undergraduate and graduate students in Music Performance, Music Education and Music Business.  Please contact the NSU Oboe studio at forsythl@nsula.edu and please click on the links below to follow us on social media.  We have a lot of FUN!

NSU Double Reed Day 2026

Saturday March 7th, 2026 * 12-5pm

Oboists and bassoonists of all levels are welcome to join us for a fun afternoon of Masterclasses, reed discussions, shopping, and a guest artist and NSU double reed faculty recital.

All events will be held at the Northwestern State University Dear School of Creative and Performing Arts in Natchitoches, LA. Registration is $25.

Please visit our website to find out more information about your hosts, Professor Leah Forsyth and Dr. Douglas Bakenhus, as well as more about Music at the School of Creative & Performing Arts at Northwestern State in Natchitoches, Louisiana… nsula.edu/music.

Guest artist: bassoonist Will Peebles

Dr. Peebles studied bassoon with Edgar Kirk, Richard Beene, Barrick Stees, and Robert Williams. He also studied oboe with Daniel Stolper. He is active in recitals, chamber music, and plays contrabassoon for the Asheville Symphony and other orchestras in the region. His doctoral dissertation on the development of bassoon fingerings led him to develop a small personal collection of historical bassoons, including some unusual ones that show the influence of the Boehm system.

Will also teaches and participates in shape-note singings around western North Carolina. He coordinates shape-note singing for WCU's Mountain Heritage Day the last Saturday in September. This singing uses B. F. White's Sacred Harp (1844) in the morning and William Walker's Christian Harmony (1866) in the afternoon.

In his spare time, Will enjoys hiking, kayaking, reading, and woodworking. He is a member of the American Federation of Musicians, the International Double Reed Society, and the American Musical Instrument Society.

A glimpse at Double Reed Day 2025!