Rebecca Henderson
Rebecca Henderson (b. 1960) began playing the oboe at the age of eleven, studying with her father, Richard Henderson, who was at the time on the faculty of North Texas State University (now the University of North Texas). In addition to her father, she was very fortunate to have inspiring and generous musical mentors in her early years, particularly her two main band directors: Rule Beasley in Denton, TX, and Richard Lambrecht in El Paso, TX. Her great good fortune continued as she made her way to the Oberlin Conservatory, earning her BM degree studying with James Caldwell, then to Chicago where she played with the Civic Orchestra of Chicago and studied with Grover Schiltz, and from there to the Eastman School of Music, where she earned her MM degree studying with Richard Killmer. Upon graduating from Eastman, she immediately took a temporary position teaching at the University of Alabama, where she stayed seven and half years, ultimately earning tenure as an Associate Professor there. Her desire to perform in a professional orchestra took her to Denver in 1992, where she was a member of the Colorado Symphony. It was there that she met her husband, immigration attorney Dan Kowalski, and slowly began to realize how much she missed teaching. That realization led her to take a position at the University of Washington in Seattle, and finally to The University of Texas at Austin, where she is currently Professor Emerita. Ms. Henderson made something of a second career subbing with various orchestras around the U.S., including the National Symphony Orchestra, the Seattle Symphony, the Los Angeles Philharmonic, the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra, and the Rochester Philharmonic. She served on the faculties of Round Top, Marrowstone, and Hot Springs summer music festivals. She recorded two solo CDs, along with a number of CDs featuring chamber music groups, and for many film scores (mostly B movies and video games). Her greatest pride and joy, her former students, enjoy their musical lives teaching in public schools, at major universities, and performing with professional and/or community orchestras throughout the U.S. Since retiring from UT Austin, Ms. Henderson enjoys spending time with her husband and their dog Shimmy, hiking in the Colorado mountains, cooking, caring for her 92 year old mother-in-law, and finding ways to engage in political and environmental activism.
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