Biography

Dr. Shane Werts is Assistant Professor of Oboe at Northern Arizona University’s Kitt School of Music, where he also serves as coordinator of the woodwind department and director of NAU’s Curry Camp. He is currently principal oboist of the Flagstaff Symphony Orchestra.

 

Previously, Dr. Werts has won auditions and held orchestral positions with the Amarillo Symphony (English horn and utility oboe), the Grand Junction Symphony Orchestra (second oboe), and the Civic Orchestra of Chicago (associate member). His academic appointments have included Associate Instructor of Oboe at the Jacobs School of Music at Indiana University, and as Adjunct Professor of Oboe at Colorado State University–Pueblo.  He has performed with orchestras across the United States, including the New World Symphony, the National Repertory Orchestra, and the National Orchestral Institute.  Additional summer music festival appearances include the Oxmoor Farm International Chamber Music Festival, Snake River Music Festival, and the InterHarmony International Music Festival.

 

An active international performer, Dr. Werts has appeared in Germany, Austria, Slovakia, Hungary, and Mexico. Highlights include a 2025 performance of Oscar Navarro’s Legacy Concerto in Mexico City.  In 2026, he will be performing the Vaughan Williams Oboe Concerto with the Flagstaff Symphony and traveling for a performance at the International Clarinet Association Convention in Incheon, South Korea.  He can also be heard as principal oboist on the 2018 Grammy-nominated Naxos recording Ruggles, Stucky, Harbison with the National Orchestral Institute Festival Orchestra.

 

In addition to his teaching and performance career, Dr. Werts is engaged in arts administration and nonprofit leadership. He previously held the role of President of the Summit Community Orchestra in Frisco, Colorado. He has collaborated with the National Repertory Orchestra and the Alpenglow Music Festival on music education initiatives, and has fostered partnerships with local governments, developing educational programming, planning performances, and working alongside regional arts organizations.

 

A strong advocate for accessibility in music education, Dr. Werts has also served as band director at Summit Middle School in Frisco, Colorado.  Dr. Werts has presented and performed at numerous International Double Reed Society conferences, including those held in Indianapolis, Flagstaff, Boulder, Phoenix, Oklahoma, and Ohio, and has also presented at the Colorado Music Educators Association Conference. 

 

He holds a Doctor of Music and Master of Music from Indiana University and a Bachelor of Music Education from Colorado State University–Fort Collins. His primary teachers include Linda Strommen, Roger Roe, Dr. Gary Moody, and Dr. Kenneth Evans. Dr. Werts maintains professional affiliations with the National Association for Music Education, the International Double Reed Society, and the College Music Society.