Needleman Studio

Alexandra Dawson Beatty

Alexandra Dawson Beatty was born in Toronto, Canada, and raised in Charleston, South Carolina. She graduated from the Charleston County School of the Arts as a band major who was first chair oboist for her school as well as the Charleston Youth Symphony. She placed first or second in All-State competitions over the past several years and was the English Hornist for the 2005 National High School Honors Orchestra held in Reno, Nevada. She won  scholarships for Furman Band Camp 2004 and Brevard Music Center 2005, and attended the Florida State Double Reed Wokshop 2004 and the John Mack Oboe Camp 2005.  She won the Charleston Youth Symphony concerto competition in 2005 and received a Charleston Youth Symphony Scholarship to attend the Peabody Conservatory.  She was vice president of her school Tri-M Music Honors Society, taught oboe to several students, and was an employed staff singer at St. Philips' Episcopal Church in Charleston, SC. She has been a student of Mark Gainer, principal oboist of the Charleston Symphony, and Liz Tomorsky. She is currently a junior pursuing her Bachelor of Music degree in Oboe Performance as a student of Katherine Needleman at the Peabody Conservatory.

Ryan Jones

Ryan Jones graduated from the Arts and Communications Academy of Governor Thomas Johnson High School in Frederick, Maryland. There, he was awarded the Semper Fidelis Award of Musical Excellence from the United States Marine Corps. He also became a Maryland Distinguished Scholar of Talent in the Arts and was the English Horn player in Maryland's All State Orchestra. He has performed in a side-by-side concert with the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra and as principal oboe in the Maryland Classical Youth Philharmonic. Mr. Jones has performed in masterclasses with Nathan Hughes, Scott Bell, and Alyssa McKeithen and is a freshman oboe student of Katherine Needleman at Peabody.

Dana Limpert

Dana Limpert received her Bachelor of Music degree from Peabody Institute as a student of Joseph Turner. She was born and raised in Delaware, was recently a finalist in the 2007 Yale Gordon Competition, and won third place in Landon Symphonette Competition for Woodwinds in 2005. She has played with the Summer Opera Theater Company for the past two seasons, and performed fourth oboe in the Rite of Spring with the Baltimore Symphony and Marin Alsop in 2007. She was a featured performer at the Dean's Honors Convocation at Peabody in May 2007, and recipient of the Richard Franko Goldman Prize in Performance. This past summer, she was a fellow at Bowdoin International Music Festival. Dana is in her second year of study as a Master's student of Katherine Needleman at Peabody.

Katherine Magruder

Katherine Magruder graduated from Coronado High School in El Paso, Texas in 2007.  She spent the following year at Interlochen Arts Academy continuing her musical studies with Daniel Stolper. Under the study of Janie Sanchez, principal oboist of the El Paso Symphony Orchestra, Katherine was a four-year All-State Orchestra member and performed with the El Paso Symphony Orchestra, El Paso Opera, and the Juarez Symphony.  She was awarded Honorable Mention in the El Paso Youth Orchestra Concerto Competition in January 2007. In June 2008, Ms. Magruder performed Haydn's Sinfonia Concertante for Violin, Cello, Oboe, and Bassoon as a guest soloist with the El Paso Youth Orchestra. She has performed in masterclasses with Eugene Izotov, John Ferrillo, and Pauline Oostenrijk. She is a freshman oboe student of Katherine Needleman at Peabody.