FIFTH INVERSION

 

art in motion

about

The dynamic ensemble Fifth Inversion brings together a tour-de-force of leading artists from the Pacific Northwest to create the highest caliber chamber music.  Based out of Bellingham, WA, Fifth Inversion performs chamber recitals, special events, and concerto features.

about

The dynamic ensemble Fifth Inversion brings together a tour-de-force of leading artists from the Pacific Northwest to create the highest caliber chamber music.  Based out of Bellingham, WA, Fifth Inversion performs chamber recitals, special events, and concerto features.

THE CREW

 

chamber music fusion

Lisa McCarthy

Lisa McCarthy

Flute

Lisa recently retired as the Senior Instructor of Flute and Woodwind Area Coordinator at Western Washington University. She has also been a faculty member at the Maritime Conservatory of Music in Halifax, Nova Scotia, and the Delta Institute of the Arts in Ladner, B.C. Lisa enjoys chamber music and currently performs as a Bellingham Chamber Music Society Artist along with two active ensembles, Fifth Inversion and Impromptu. The faculty woodwind quintet, Fifth Inversion, performs regularly and has been featured at the 2016 Northwest Horn Symposium, 2017 Wyoming Music Educators Association Conference, 2017 National Flute Association Convention and the 2018 National College Music Society Conference. Impromptu, her flute and bassoon duo with bassoonist Pat Nelson won the 2004 National Flute Association Chamber Music Competition and was invited to perform at the National Flute Association Convention in Nashville. The duo was also asked to present a recital at the 2006 International Double Reed Conference in Indiana.

Lisa is the former principal of the Whatcom Symphony Orchestra and Whatcom Symphony Chamber Orchestra and has performed twice as a guest soloist with the group. Lisa maintains a private studio and adjudicates throughout the Pacific Northwest and British Columbia, including multiple Washington Music Educators Association State Solo and Ensemble contests, Music Teachers National Association competitions, Performing Arts Festival of the Eastside competitions, Kiwanis Music Festival competitions, and Seattle Flute Society Horsfall Competitions.

Jennifer K. Weeks

Jennifer K. Weeks

Oboe

Jennifer is instructor of oboe at Western Washington University. In 2012 she founded Making Waves, a Washington non-profit, which aims to enhance public school music programs for young people in under-served communities. In 2013 she created Summerwinds, a summer chamber music camp for young woodwind players run through Western Washington University’s Department of Music.

Jennifer studied under Theodore Baskin of the Montreal Symphony and John Mack of the Cleveland Orchestra, and served as principal oboist with the Kingston Symphony Orchestra in Ontario, Canada, before moving to the west coast.  During her tenure in Kingston she was a member of the music faculty at Queen’s University.  Throughout her professional playing career, Jennifer performed with many orchestral and chamber music groups including the Orchestre Symphonique du Quebec, Les Violons du Roi, l’Orchestre Metropolitain de Montreal, the Canadian Opera Company, The National Ballet of Canada, the Canadian National Arts Center Orchestra, the Sarasota Opera Company, the Vancouver Island Symphony, the Pacific Northwest Ballet, the Seattle Symphony, and the Bellingham Festival of Music. Locally she performed with the Whatcom Symphony Orchestra for several years and currently enjoys playing with the Skagit Opera Company.

Erika Block

Erika Block

Clarinet

Erika hails from Annapolis, MD and is the Executive Director of the Bellingham Festival of Music. She received her Bachelor and Master’s degrees in clarinet performance at Boston University. She studied with Thomas Martin (Boston Symphony Orchestra), and continued on with Ricardo Morales (Philadelphia Orchestra).  Her studies began with Gregory Raden (Dallas Symphony Orchestra), and she attended Brevard, Tanglewood, and Kinhaven music schools in the summer.

Erika performs regularly with the Fifth Inversion Woodwind Quintet, Skagit Opera, Trio D’Anches, Bellingham Music Festival Orchestra, Bellingham Chamber Music Society, and many others.  As an active soloist, she has recently been featured with Fourth Inversion in Mt Vernon, WA, in addition to recitals and concerti in Bellingham, Vancouver BC, and Washington DC.  Erika and her family moved to Bellingham in 2011 after several years in Vancouver, BC where she played with the Vancouver Island Symphony, North Shore Sinfonia, and Nu:BC contemporary ensemble.

In addition to performing, Erika was the marketing and artist relations director for Backun Musical Services, a boutique clarinet manufacturer based in Burnaby, BC.  There, she spent several years designing the packaging, website, print ads, logos, and trade show decor.  She toured the US and Europe with Morrie Backun, educating clarinetists around the world about their instrument, the products, and how to improve their playing.  Now, 15 years since its inception, Backun Musical is the leader in clarinet innovation worldwide.

Pat Nelson

Pat Nelson

Bassoon

Pat is instructor of bassoon at Western Washington University, and performs with highly acclaimed Fifth Inversion and Westwood Wind Quintet. Since 2001, the Westwood Quintet has released 14 recordings on the Crystal Records label. Pat is also the Bassoon Instructor at DigiPen Institute of Technology, maintains a large private studio in Northwest Washington, and is a frequent adjudicator at regional and state level competitions.

Pat is co-founder and past-President of the Bellingham Chamber Music Society, presenting traditional and contemporary chamber music and premiering works by new composers. She performs with the WWU faculty wind quintet, Fifth Inversion, recently featured as artists with the Skagit Symphony and the Northwest Horn Symposium. She also performs with the Skagit Opera, San Juan Chamber Music Series, and with her New York based trio, Sapphire Winds. 

Pat received a chamber music certificate from the Cours International de Musique in France and has been guest artist and instructor at Musicfest in Wales, Utah State Music Festival, Wright State University, and at California State at Long Beach. She is the winner of the National Flute Association Chamber Music Award in 2004 with her duo “Impromptu” and has performed at the National Flute Association Conference in 2004, and the International Double Reed Society Conferences in 2005 and 2012. She holds degrees from the University of North Carolina, Northwestern University with post-graduate studies at the University of Arizona. Her teachers include John Pederson, Robert Barris and William Dietz. 

Gustavo Camacho

Gustavo Camacho

Horn

Gustavo is Associate Professor of Horn and Brass Area Coordinator at Western Washington University. He previously served as Instructor of Horn and Chamber Music at the Interlochen Arts Academy and Summer Arts Camp for four years.  He also performed as principal horn of Phoenix Opera for three years while performing regularly with The Phoenix Symphony and served on the brass faculty at the Arizona School for the Arts.  An active soloist and clinician, Dr. Camacho has been a featured soloist with the Skagit Symphony, Traverse Symphony Orchestra, Whatcom Wind Ensemble, the WWU Wind Ensemble and Symphony Orchestra, and the Interlochen Arts Academy Band.  He has also presented masterclasses and performances at conferences, festivals, and institutions in the U.S., Canada, Cuba, China and Luxembourg.

Dr. Camacho has a particular interest in bringing chamber music to the community.  His chamber music philosophies stem from extensive chamber music study with Empire Brass Quintet founding member Sam Pilafian, and he continues to make chamber music a central focus of his creative activity, most notably with WWU Faculty wind Quintet “Fifth Inversion” and Brass Trio “Trinsic Brass”.  Dr. Camacho holds a Bachelor of Music degree from New Mexico State University, and a Master in Music and a Doctor of Musical Arts degree in horn performance from Arizona State University.

GREEN ROOM

 

playing outside the [music] box


ON DECK


 


RECENT


 

Contact Fifth Inversion

15 + 9 =