Woodwind Faculty
KYOKO HIDA-BATTAGLIA, oboe
The Boston Conservatory
Kyoko Hida-Battaglia, born in Japan, began her musical education first as a pianist. At 17, however, she switched to the oboe. It is in that instrument that she received a BM from the Tokyo College of Music and a Masters Degree from the New England Conservatory. Mrs. Hida-Battaglia is a regular player with the Boston Philharmonic Orchestra, the New Haven Symphony, the Nashua Symphony and the Colorado Music Festival Orchestra. She performs often with the Boston Symphony, the Boston Pops and the Boston Ballet orchestra. She is currently a faculty member at The Boston Conservatory, the New England Conservatory Preparatory Division, the Rivers School Conservatory, Brookline Music School and Powers Music School. She lives in Methuen with her husband and daughter.
Janet Underhill, Bassoon
South Shore Conservatory
Bassoonist, teacher and arts administrator, Janet Underhill has been active in the Boston area for over 20 years. Her first experiences in teaching were in the summer of 1987 at South Shore Conservatory’s Summer Music Festival. Janet was the recipient of the 2001 Kay Logan Award, a national award for excellence in chamber music teaching, for her ten years of developing and managing Boston Youth Symphony Orchestra’s Chamber Music program.
Currently she is the Director of Music Lessons and Winds, Brass and Percussion for St. Mark’s School of Southborough. In addition to South Shore Conservatory, Ms. Underhill teaches bassoon at Boston College and the Community Music Center. Still active at BYSO, she is the Director of Preparatory Winds and Assistant Conductor for the Junior Repertory Orchestra.
Janet is a founding member of Arcadian Winds, a woodwind quintet specializing in contemporary music that has commissioned and premiered more than 50 works. In 2004-2005 Arcadian Winds was in residence at Boston Latin School, through a grant from Chamber Music America, to help establish a chamber music program in the Boston Public Schools.
As a freelancer Ms. Underhill has performed with The Moody Blues, Placido Domingo, Tony Bennett and The Panamanian National Symphony Orchestra. Concerto performances include appearances with The Pittsburgh Symphony, Harvard University Mozart Society Orchestra, Greater Boston Youth Symphony Orchestras and the Little Orchestra of Victoria.
As a soloist she has performed at the International Double Reed Conference in Minneapolis, the Gaudeamus Competition in Rotterdam, Holland, The Women’s Avant Festival in Chicago, The Warebrook Contemporary Music Festival in Vermont, The Sonics Series at the Western Front in Vancouver, B.C., The Outoftowners series in New York City, Crossounds in Alaska and Soundwaves in St. Petersburg, Russia.
As an improviser, Janet Underhill has been a member of Cast of Characters, Spectrum Dance Company, Kaleidoscope Theatre and Networks Orchestra. Also interested in archival projects, she has developed a cataloguing system for ethnic recordings with composer Martin Bartlett, and has organized Gunther Schuller’s personal collection.
