Flora & Fauna
October 2, 3 & 4
Celebrate the beauty and diversity of the natural world through the experience of live Baroque music.
Taking a cue from nature, JBO presents Flora & Fauna. featuring guest artist, Vicki Boeckman, recorder virtuoso, who joins local musicians in these performances. For the October 3 concert only, as part of a new JBO outreach program, the orchestra will be joined by students from the Grants Pass High School Chamber Orchestra in a performance of the Handel Concerto Grosso.
Tickets: $30 | Seniors $25 | Students or Oregon Trail card holders $5
Free tickets for those 18 years old or younger
Muffat: Florilegium Primum, Suite 4: Impatientia
Biber: Sonata Representativa
Vivaldi: Flute Concerto in D Major, RV 428, “The Goldfinch”
Guest Artist Vicki Boeckman, recorder
Telemann: Violin Concerto TWV 51 in A, “The Frogs”
Scarlatti: Sonata K. 30, L. 499, “Cat’s Fugue,”
Handel: Concerto Grosso in E Minor, HWV 321
At the October 3 concert only, as part of a new JBO outreach program, the orchestra will be joined by students from the Grants Pass High School Chamber Orchestra in the performance of this Handel Concerto.
Featured Guest Soloist
Vicki Boeckman, recorder
Vicki Boeckman is a passionate musician who has been performing and teaching since the 1980s. Her career as a professional recorder player has been a highly rewarding journey which has taken her to many countries and given her the opportunity to record numerous CDs with incredible musicians in various ensemble settings. Currently residing in the Seattle area, she is honored to be an integral part of Seattle’s vibrant early music community as well as being in demand as a teacher at workshops and seminars across the US.
Before settling in Seattle, Vicki resided in Denmark from 1981-2005, first as a student at the Royal Danish Academy of Music, later collaborating with some of the finest musicians and composers of the day including Per Nørgård, Hans Abrahamsen, Ole Buck, and Markus Zahnhausen to name a few. Her Danish recorder trio Wood’N’Flutes had a fantastic 15-year run performing all over Europe and received government grants to work with contemporary composers in addition to children’s theater. She was an adjunct professor at the Royal Danish Academy of Music in Copenhagen for 12 years and taught at the Ishøj Municipal School of Music for 23 years. Many of those students are now professionals, performing and teaching in conservatories in Denmark and around Europe.
In the Pacific Northwest Vicki has been a featured soloist with the Seattle Symphony, Seattle Baroque Orchestra, the Yakima Symphony, Portland Baroque Orchestra, The Oregon Symphony, Portland Opera, Medieval Women’s Choir, Gallery Concerts, Boise Philharmonic, Philharmonia Northwest Orchestra, and the Skagit Symphony. She is currently a member of the Farallon Recorder Quartet, music director for the Seattle Recorder Society, co-director for the Recorder Orchestra of Puget Sound (ROPS), and Artistic Director for the Port Townsend Early Music Workshop. She adores teaching children as well as adults, and has been on the faculty at Music Center of the Northwest since 2005 in addition to having a thriving home and Zoom studio. Vicki is a two-time recipient of the recorder residency at the Sitka Center for Art and Ecology in Oregon, and a two-time recipient of the Jack Straw Artist Support Program.
Vicki embraces opportunities to laugh and appreciate friends and family, spend time outdoors, cook and eat good food, drink wine (responsibly), walk briskly, and make things grow in the garden. She is thrilled to have this opportunity to play with the Jefferson Baroque Orchestra.
Abigail Wilensky, violin
Abigail Wilensky is a professional violinist local to the Rogue Valley of Southern Oregon. She is currently in the Oregon Shakespeare Festival’s production of Come From Away, and served as Concertmaster in the 2025 production of Into the Woods, as well as Hairspray and Oklahoma! in previous seasons. She has served as Assistant Concertmaster and Principal Second Violin with the Rogue Valley Symphony, as well as Capellmeister and soloist with the Jefferson Baroque Orchestra.
Abigail enjoys collaborating with the Southern Oregon Repertory Singers on both violin and viola, as well as the Rogue Valley Chorale. She believes in the philosophy of Dr. Shin’Ichi Suzuki that all children can learn an instrument to a high level if given the proper environment, and works with kids and their families teaching the Suzuki Method. She also enjoys playing many styles of music including Tango, Romani and Bluegrass, and currently performs with Ashland’s only Brazilian band – the Alquimistas. Education: MA in Violin Performance and Suzuki Pedagogy, Cleveland Institute of Music; BA in Violin Performance, Vanderbilt University.
Esther Platt, violin
Esther Platt grew up in Ashland playing violin in YSSO, RVS, and Siskiyou Violins, studying with Faina Podolnaya. At age 13, she fondly played fiddler in Always…Patsy Cline at the old Camelot Theatre in Talent, and at 17, participated in the National Youth Orchestra of the USA.
Esther then completed degree programs with scholarships in Violin Performance in Michigan and SE Florida. In Florida, she has been a member of the Palm Beach Opera and many other ensembles. Now she is back in the Rogue Valley Symphony (Associate Concertmaster) and also plays in the Britt Orchestra, Eugene Symphony, Oregon Ballet, and other ensembles.
Outside of her time playing music, Esther enjoys propagating fruit and nut trees, redesigning many items, and working at Bellwood Violin.
Abigail Mace, harpsichord
Abigail Mace, harpsichord and director, has been leading the Jefferson Baroque Orchestra since 2024 in historically-informed performances throughout Southern Oregon.
Mace is a Netherland-America Foundation Fulbright Fellow trained in early music at the Royal Conservatory of the Hague where she studied harpsichord with Jacques Ogg and figured bass with Patrick Ayrton. Closer to home, Mace has participated in the Tafelmusik Baroque Summer Institute in Toronto, Canada, the International Baroque Institute at Longy in Cambridge, Massachusetts and the Twin Cities Early Music Festival in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
Mace has held teaching positions at universities across the country, most recently as Assistant Professor of Music at Oklahoma Baptist University where she directed the Music Preparatory Department and served as Keyboard Area Coordinator. Mace earned her Bachelor of Music degree from Vanderbilt University, summa cum laude, and holds Master of Music and Doctor of Musical Arts degrees from The University of Texas at Austin, completing studies in piano and fortepiano with Nancy Garrett.
A fifth-generation Oregonian, Mace enjoys spending time with family and the beauty of Southern Oregon.