We’re passionate about new music and highlighting underrepresented voices.
Meet Cassia & Colibri
A newly reimagined oboe and saxophone duo, Cassia & Colibrí, was founded in 2019. The ensemble seeks to expand the repertoire for this instrument combination and to present educational programs to students of all ages. One of the ensemble’s first initiatives was a call for scores which received 80 entries, many of which became staples of the duo. Previously called “BS Project,” the duo was chosen as 2022-2023 YourClassical Minnesota Public Radio Class Notes Artists. Through MPR and independently, the duo shared their original musical story "Paul Bunyan and Babe the Blue Ox Finds the Blues" 117 times at schools and libraries throughout Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Kansas! The ensemble has performed at several conferences, including North American Saxophone Alliance conferences in Hattiesburg, MS and Arlington, TX; International Double Reed Society conferences in Salaya, Thailand, and Flagstaff, AZ; and the Music by Women Festival in Columbus, MS. Future programs include “Hues & Views,” a recital sharing music about art and color which will be performed at art museums and art parks throughout the country.
Meet Sean
Dr. Sean Fredenburg currently serves as Lecturer of Saxophone and Music Theory at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga. Prior to his appointment at UTC, Dr. Fredenburg has served as the Applied Saxophone sabbatical replacement for Dr. Idit Shner at the University of Oregon and Instructor of Saxophone at Portland State University teaching applied saxophone, chamber music, and woodwind techniques. He is dedicated to promoting new music for the saxophone, commissioning and premiering new works from many bright young composers. As a chamber musician, he is a founding member of the Post-Haste Reed Duo (saxophone + bassoon) with Dr. Javier Rodriguez. Post-Haste has performed internationally in Canada, Costa Rica, and Mexico and has toured several U.S. colleges and universities, performing and presenting classes in woodwind performance, chamber music, and entrepreneurship. As an orchestral musician Dr. Fredenburg has also appeared under the baton of Danail Rachev with the Eugene Symphony, Marin Alsop with the Oregon Bach Festival, and Carlos Kalmar and David Danzmayr with the Oregon Symphony. He holds degrees from Louisiana State University, the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, and a Doctorate of Musical Arts degree from the University of Oregon. His primary teachers have been Griffin Campbell, Steven Stusek, and Idit Shner.
Learn more at www.seanfredenburg.com.
Meet Susan
Dr. Susan Miranda is a Fox Products Performing Artist and Adjunct Professor of Oboe at Dordt University. A 2025 national finalist for the American Prize in Instrumental Performance–Professional Division, she is an active performer, educator, and arts entrepreneur whose work spans chamber music, commissioning projects, and innovative educational outreach.
Her performing career emphasizes new music, with over forty premieres for oboe in the past decade. She has appeared at major conferences including the International Double Reed Society (IDRS), International Clarinet Association (ICA), North American Saxophone Alliance (NASA), International Music by Women Conference, and SHE Festival. International performances include works by Jonathan Posthuma and Gary Powell Nash at the 2023 IDRS Conference in Thailand, and music by Snow Kim and Nancy Williams at the 2024 ICA Conference in Dublin, Ireland. Orchestrally, she has performed with the Omaha Symphony, Tulsa Symphony, Oklahoma City Philharmonic, Chattanooga Symphony, and Winona Symphony, contributing her artistry to both regional and large-scale orchestral settings.
As founder or co-founder of ensembles Larkspur Reed Trio, Cassia & Colibri, Dúo León, and Reed5, Miranda brings creative vision to both the stage and classroom. Her outreach projects, such as the touring musical story Paul Bunyan and Babe the Blue Ox Find the Blues, have brought live music to thousands of students. Additional educational initiatives, including the grant-funded musical story Isabel and Her Colores Go to School, have reached audiences from preschoolers to college students across the Midwest.
Learn more at www.susanmiranda.com.