Binkley, Linda

Critics have described oboist Lindabeth Binkley’s playing as “suave and expressive, with the purest tone imaginable” and “a classic triumph of lightness, delicacy, and expressiveness.”  She has held positions with the Colorado Symphony, Arizona Opera, Central City Opera, and performed as the Principal Oboist of the Tucson Symphony Orchestra from 1998 to 2009.  Shortly after her arrival in Michigan, Dr. Binkley was appointed Principal Oboe of the Flint Symphony Orchestra and has been active throughout the state in performances with the Ann Arbor Symphony, Lansing Symphony, and Lexington (MI) Bach Festival.

Dr. Binkley also enjoys collaborating and creating extraordinary solo and chamber music performances. In 2020, she completed a large collaborative recording project,  From Earth & Sky: Music of Jenni Brandon (BGS 545) for Blue Griffin Records for which she commissioned the beautiful Wood Song for Solo Oboe by Jenni Brandon with funding from a CMU Faculty Research & Creative Endeavors grant.  Dr. Binkley is a founding member of Limitless Collective, a chamber ensemble of professional female musicians dedicated to highlighting works by emerging composers, women, people of color, non-binary, and the LGBTQ community.  She also performs regularly with the Powers Woodwind Quintet, a CMU faculty ensemble, and can be heard on their 2017 Centaur Records release, Hidden Gems (CEN 3528). As a soloist, she performs frequently in recital at International Double Reed Society Conferences and as a visiting guest artist at college campuses across the United States.  

A dedicated teacher, Dr. Binkley’s students have been accepted into prominent summer music programs such as the Rocky Ridge Music Center (Estes Park, CO), Vianden International Music Festival (Luxembourg), Marrowstone Music Festival (Bellingham, WA), Idyllwild Arts Academy (Idyllwild, CA), and the Dacoda Skidmore Chamber Music Institute (Saratoga Springs, NY).  Students who have studied with Dr. Binkley have been accepted into graduate programs at the University of Colorado-Boulder, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, the Shanghai Orchestra Academy, University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music, Indiana University-Bloomington, Arizona State University, and Florida State University. In addition, she, with Professor MaryBeth Minnis, hosts a summer reed making camp for high school oboists and bassoonists at the Central Michigan University School of Music.  Dr. Binkley also frequently presents at music education conferences such as the Michigan Music Conference, the Texas Music Educators Association Conference (San Antonio, TX), and at the Annual Midwest Clinic (Chicago, IL). 

Originally from Michigan, Dr. Binkley holds degrees from Central Michigan University, The University of Colorado at Boulder and the University of Arizona. Her primary oboe teachers include Roger Rehm, Peter Cooper, and Dr. Neil Tatman.

Dr. Binkley performs on a Royal 125 oboe made by F. Lorée (Paris).

Recent Scholarships

"From Earth & Sky: Music of Jenni Brandon," Blue Griffin Records, 2020

Author. "Updating the Reed Making Experience for Today's Students." The Double Reed: The Quarterly Journal of the International Double Reed Society, 42(4), 125-143.

Presenter. 2017 International Double Reed Society Conference (Appleton, WI). "Inspiring Curiosity in Today's College Musicians: The CMU Double Reed Baroque Project."

Presenter. 2016 International Double Reed Society Conference (Columbus, GA). "Reed Class Reinvented: Developing Independent Reed Makers in the Applied Studio Setting."

"Hidden Gems" - Powers Woodwind Quintet - White Pine Records, 2016