Oboe
Victoria Racz, B.M., M.M., was the principal oboist, featured soloist, and General Manager of the Oregon Chamber Players for the complete existence of the ensemble (1995-2014). She played principal oboe and was a soloist twice with the Newport Symphony (from 1993 – 2011). She has played oboe and English horn with Columbia Symphony (Orchestra Nova Northwest), American Metropole Orchestra, Oregon Symphony, and other groups in the region, including the Oregon Chorale, Reprise Choir, and ISing Choir. She is principal oboist with the Portland Festival Symphony, Portland Summerfest Opera (Opera in the Park), and Vancouver Master Chorale where she was also a concerto soloist twice. She is also the oboist with the Con Grazia Wind Quintet, the OCP Quartet, Sirens Trio, Double Reed Divas, and Trio Adrato. She has performed with a diverse range of artists including performers such as Jane Siberry, Roberta Flack, Martha Reeves, Kurt Elling, and Jessye Norman. In August of 2020 she won the one-year principal oboe position with Portland’s Columbia Symphony (Orchestra Nova Northwest) for their 2020-’21 Season while their regular principal took a sabbatical, and was also Acting Principal for 2023. In January 2024 she auditioned and won the principal position for PCSO.
She is the Co-founder, General Manager and primary wind coach for the Junior Symphony of Vancouver, and is in demand throughout the Northwest as a teacher and adjudicator. She has written program notes and/or presented concert talks with organizations such as the Oregon Chamber Players, Junior Symphony of Vancouver, Portland Columbia Symphony, and Newport Symphony. From 1993 to 2000 she was the oboe professor at Marylhurst University in Oregon, and she was hired as oboe professor at Clark College, Washington, in 2022.
Through her annual Northwest Oboe Seminar, she has worked and performed with several world-renowned artists including Humbert Lucarelli, Allan Vogel, Dan Stolper, Nancy Rumbel, Alex Klein, and John Mack, among others.
Several compositions have been written and/or arranged specifically for her by composers/musicians such as Dr. Matt Doran, Norman Leyden, Ray Pizzi, Jean Chatillon, Dr. Gary Powell Nash, and Timoteus Racz.
Victoria Racz’s chair is sponsored by Léon Pluymaekers.
The Oboe section is sponsored by Peter & Ann van Bever.
Dagny Rask Regan is a Portland native, having graduated from Grant High School, and then receiving her Music Education degree from Oregon State University. Dagny is an active musician and double reed teacher, and teaches both oboe and bassoon to Portland area students since 1988.
Dagny has been a member of ONN since 1999, and has enjoyed playing with the orchestra greatly. Other ensembles she has played in include Bach Cantata Choir Orchestra, Oregon Symphonic Band, The Singing Christmas Tree Orchestra, Beaverton Christian Church Orchestra, Portland Christian Center Orchestra and Vancouver Master Chorale, and has subbed with numerous groups such as Newport Symphony, Vancouver Symphony, Bravo Orchestra and has been hired for many free lance gigs throughout the area.
Her husband, Mike, is a professional musician and retired Middle School Band Director, and played bass in the popular band The Crazy 8s.
Their son, Kenny, is a professional composer and musician in the Portland area.
Dagny enjoys cooking, beach trips, reading, running, watching classic horror movies, and of course, making oboe and bassoon reeds in her free time. She lives on Rocky Butte, and maintains her studio of 41 students there.
The Oboe section is sponsored by Peter & Ann van Bever.
Ann van Bever has played English horn in Orchestra Nova Northwest since 2002. She has bachelor’s and master’s degrees in music from Southern Methodist University (Dallas, TX) and has a law degree from Marquette University Law School (Milwaukee, WI). She practiced law for 17 years before returning to music as a full-time profession. In addition to ONN, she plays oboe and oboe d’amore in the Bach Cantata Choir Orchestra and principal oboe in the Oregon East Symphony (Pendleton), and enjoys chamber music as a member of the Double Reed Divas and the Meadowlark Ensemble. She is a busy freelance player throughout Oregon and Southwest Washington and teaches a small studio of private oboe students.
Ann and her husband, Peter, are avid supporters of music in Portland. Both have served on the board of Chamber Music Northwest, Peter has served on the Portland Opera board, and Ann is a member of the ONN board. Since 1983, she has attended an annual summer chamber music camp in Vermont and in 1997 started a similar chamber music camp in the Portland area called “Into the Woods.” Before moving to Portland in 1993, Ann lived in California, Texas, Florida, and Wisconsin, and was an active musician and supporter of the arts in each of the communities she lived in. In addition to music, she loves food, traveling, reading, and word games.
The Oboe & English Horn section is sponsored by Peter & Ann van Bever.