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 M. Chapman, Horn

Michele 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 free-lance hornist with the Louisville Orchestra, Louisville Bach Society, Music Theater Louisville, Broadway Series, Mesa Symphony and many chamber music groups. She currently plays in the Louisville Civic Orchestra and in the Louisville Philharmonia serving on this orchestra’s Board. She recently retired from the Belle of Louisville’s Sales and Marketing Department.

Lynette Davidson, Oboe

Lynette has her MME 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 Owensboro Symphony. Lynette is an avid equestrian competing frequently in regional horse shows.

Margaret Jamner, Flute

Margaret joined les six in the winter of 2017. She is currently on the music faculty at Indiana University Southeast, Bellarmine University and the Louisville Academy of Music. Prior to 2004, she served twelve years as second flute and assistant principal flute in The Louisville Orchestra. 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 she was 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 music in the city’s public school system where she has taught for over 25 years. In September of 2021, her new CD God Loves the French, a memorial album to her late father, Douglas LeBlanc, will be released. She has also released For Michelle, an album honoring 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 Tate is retired from teaching choir at Atherton High School in Louisville after an earlier career in data processing. Now she coaches bassoonists at several area schools, is principal bassoonist with the Louisville Civic Orchestra and Indiana University Southeast Orchestra, contra bassoonist with the Louisville Philharmonia, plays in the Quintessential Winds Quintet, and sings in her church choir. She has performed with the Louisville Orchestra, Lexington Philharmonic, Louisville Bach Society, Louisville Ballet, Owensboro Symphony, and various other groups around the city. Nan has a B.S. in instrumental music education from the University of Illinois, and an M.A. in secondary education from Indiana University Southeast.