les six

In October, 2015, a group of wind players joined pianist Denine LeBlanc to perform the Sextet by Francis Poulenc on her piano recital at the University of Louisville. The musicians mutually agreed that playing chamber music with piano was fun. Motivated by their enjoyment of this genre and by the sheer love of playing music, the sextet playfully named itself les six. The ensemble hopes to play a cluster of concerts each semester in the region surrounding Louisville, Kentucky.

Michele Chapman, Horn

Michelle holds a Masters of Music degree from the University of Louisville and a Bachelors of Music degree from the Crane School of Music SUNY at Potsdam. She has performed as a freelance hornist with the Louisville Orchestra, Louisville Bach Society, Music Theater Louisville, Broadway Series, Mesa Symphony and many other chamber music groups. She currently plays in the Louisville Civic Orchestra and in the Louisville Philharmonia, serving on this orchestra’s Board of Directors. She works for the Belle of Louisville in Sales and Marketing.

Lynette Davidson, Oboe

Lynette earned her MME in Music from Morehead State University. She has studied with Mary Albers and Jerry Sirucek. Lynette was assistant Principal Oboist with the Knoxville Symphony Orchestra, English Hornist with the Lexington Philharmonic, and casual player with the Louisville Orchestra and the Owensboro Symphony.

Margaret Jamner, Flute

Margaret joined les six in the winter of 2017. She is currently on the music faculty at Indiana University Southeast and Bellarmine University. Prior to 2004, she served as assistant principal and second flutist in The Louisville Orchestra for twelve years. Her teachers have included Francis Fuge, Robert Dick, Michael Parloff, and Keith Underwood. Margaret has performed chamber music as guest artist with the Kentucky Center Chamber Players, as faculty of the East West International Music Festival in Altenburg, Germany, and is a founding member of Concorde: The Chamber Music Society of Westport, in Westport, Connecticut.

Denine LeBlanc, Piano

Denine holds a D.M.A. from the College-Conservatory of Music, University of Cincinnati, a M.M. from the University of Louisville, and a B.M. from the Cleveland Institute of Music. She teaches piano at the University of Louisville in the School of Music Community Music Program, and in the city’s public school system where she has taught for over 20 years. In 2014, she released For Michelle as a memorial album for her late sister, the esteemed equine specialist, Dr. Michelle LeBlanc. Dr. LeBlanc’s previous albums, The Sun Shines Bright and Weep no More feature original piano music by Kentucky composers.  She has played both traditional and contemporary concerts throughout the United States and in Croatia, France, Germany, Hungary, Italy and Poland. In 2016, she helped organize les six, a sextet of wind instruments and piano.

Tony Smith, Clarinet

Tony began playing clarinet at age ten because he liked the way it sounded on a musical game at school. He studied with the late James Livingston as well as Phil Miller at the University of Kentucky and currently plays with the Louisville Philharmonia and other local ensembles. He lives in Elizabethtown, KY and practices Ophthalmology there as his day job.

Nan Tate, Bassoon

Nan has a B.S. in Music Education from the University of Illinois, and a M.S. in Secondary Education from Indiana University Southeast. She is a freelance bassoonist and recently retired from teaching choir at Atherton High School in Louisville, KY. Nan is principal bassoonist with Indiana University Southeast Orchestra, contra bassoonist with the Louisville Philharmonia and Louisville Civic Orchestra,  and has performed with The Louisville Orchestra, Lexington Philharmonic, Louisville Ballet, Louisville Bach Society, as well as various other groups around the city.