Lorraine Duso Kitts

Oboe

Lorraine Duso Kitts plays Second Oboe in the Arkansas Symphony. She is a Double Reeds Professor at the University of Central Arkansas teaching oboe and bassoon, and adjunct oboe instructor at Hendrix College. She was born and raised from a family of nine in Flint, Michigan. Her father was a factory worker and her mother was a nurse. Although they did not pursue musical careers, they encouraged their children to play an instrument. Out of the nine children, Lorraine and her brother went to college to study music. Her brother chose to be a high school band director and she chose to perform in an orchestra and teach college students. After her studies and performing in groups all over the world, in 2000 she moved to Conway to teach at UCA and play Second Oboe with the Arkansas Symphony Orchestra. She plays in other community orchestras such as Principal Oboe in the Conway Symphony and Principal Oboe in the Snow Pond Symphony Orchestra (ME). She has also performed in professional orchestras outside of the State of Arkansas such as the Knoxville Symphony, TN, the Orquesta Sinfonica de Estado de Mexico and Orquesta Sinfonia de Jalapa in Mexico. Lorraine takes pride in her collaborations with her two colleagues, Leanna Booze Renfro and Beth Wheeler, where they have performed as the DDG Double Reed Trio. They have performed at several venues like the River Rhapsodie Chamber Music Series and at the International Double Reed Conference. They have encouraged several composers like John Steinmetz, Robert Boury, Paul Dickinson, and Christopher Theofanidis to write music for their trio including the Triple Concerto by Michael Fine. As a soloist she has performed with the Fuzhou Philharmonic Orchestra in Fuzhou, China, the Pine Bluff Symphony and the Little Rock Wind Symphony. Dr. Duso Kitts spends her summers in Sidney, Maine teaching oboe at the New England Music Camp, a seven-week summer program for junior and high school students. She received her Bachelor of Music degree at Indiana University, her Master of Music degree from Manhattan School of Music and her Doctorate of Musical Arts degree from the University of Michigan. Her teachers include Jerry Sirucek, Joseph Robinson, Tom Stacy and Harry Sargous.