Jenna Sehmann is an oboist and educator in Nacogdoches, Texas.
Educator
Dr. Jenna Sehmann is the Assistant Professor of Oboe and Music History at Stephen F. Austin State University in Nacogdoches, Texas. Jenna previously served as Instructor of Double Reeds and Music History at Southeast Missouri State University, oboe faculty at Cornell College (Mount Vernon, IA) and taught applied oboe lessons at Mount Mercy University (Cedar Rapids, IA).
Performer
Professionally, Dr. Sehmann performs regularly as a member of the Longview Symphony, Taneycomo Festival Orchestra, and the Stone Fort Wind Quintet.
Additionally, she has performed with the Quad Cities Symphony, Orchestra Iowa, Dubuque Symphony, Paducah Symphony Orchestra, Ottumwa Symphony, Dayton Philharmonic, Evansville Philharmonic, and the Bach Ensemble of St. Thomas. Jenna has also performed in orchestral and chamber music settings at the Bay View Music Festival, Sewanee Summer Music Festival, Marrowstone Music Festival, Trentino Music Festival, and Sault Ste. Marie Opera Orchestra.
Dr. Sehmann is an accomplished soloist and has won several competitions and awards. Most notably, she was the Kentucky chapter winner of the 2018 National Society of Arts and Letters Woodwinds competition, competing nationally in Chautauqua, NY in May 2018. She was also the second-place winner of the Mary Ann Starring Memorial Award in Woodwinds/Brass as part of the 2018 Sigma Alpha Iota Triennial Graduate Performance Awards. Other accomplishments include the 2017 MTNA Woodwinds Young Artist Competition (Kentucky division winner), and the 2016 recipient of the NAfME Carolyn Nelson Double Reed Award.
Jenna performs on a Howarth XL Coco Jazz oboe and a Loree English horn.
Wild Prairie Winds, 501(c)3 Non-Profit Organization
Jenna is the oboist and Director of Operations of the Wild Prairie Winds. The mission of the Wild Prairie Winds [501(c)(3) Non-Profit] is to promote accessible chamber music through community outreach, education, imaginative programming, and creative concert settings. To learn more about the Wild Prairie Winds and their current projects, visit them on their website, Facebook, or Instagram.
Education & Training
Dr. Sehmann holds a Doctor of Musical Arts in Oboe Performance and Pedagogy from the University of Iowa, Master of Music degree in oboe performance from the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music and a Bachelor of Music degree in both music performance and music industry from Eastern Kentucky University. Major influences on Dr. Sehmann's career include Dr. Courtney Miller, Dr. Mark Ostoich, and Dr. Julie Smith.
Additional Interests and Creative Pursuits
In her musicology classroom teaching, Jenna emphasizes a holistic, ethnomusicological approach to traditional music history. She has taught music history survey courses for music majors and non majors, and special topics courses including Music in World Cultures, Popular Music of the Americas and Beyond, American Music, The Age of Modernism, The Age of Beethoven, and Jazz Appreciation.
She has also given presentations on music history pedagogy, including “Where are the women? Tackling the gender gap in special topics undergraduate music history curriculum” at the University of Arkansas SHE: Festival for Women in Music, and “Anything But a Paper: Creative Alternatives to Traditional Research Essays in University Humanities Courses” at the Missouri S&T Innovations in Teaching and Learning conference.
Jenna’s primary research focuses on literary connections and narrative in instrumental music. This research can be found in her Doctoral capstone project, which features recordings of works for oboe inspired by literature. This project highlights two of Jenna’s greatest interests: oboe performance and theatrical literature and performance. Dr. Sehmann was named the sole recipient of the 2020 Sigma Alpha Iota Doctoral Grant in order to further her studies on this subject.
Outside of music, Jenna enjoys adventuring with her retired racing greyhound Peggy Sue and spending time with family.