Amanda Vache

Amanda Vache grew up in Wildwood, Missouri, and has always been drawn to music. She played the recorder, the violin, and the piano in elementary school, and was also involved in her elementary school’s choir. After falling in love with the timbre of the oboe, and the tone of the oboists around her – and after encouragement from her band directors – she began to play the oboe. Vache quickly started receiving invaluable instruction from Xiomara Mass, oboist of the Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra. She is grateful for her band director, Colin Hunt, for helping fuel her drive and providing opportunities that allowed her to grow musically. She also wants to extend her gratitude towards Alyssa Morris, Associate Professor of Oboe and Music Theory at Kansas State University. Morris’ yearly oboe conventions helped expose Vache to the world of oboe and inspire her. 

Vache played in the 2022 All Suburban Band, in Elke Overton’s Jefferson College High School Honor Band in 2023, and accompanied the Maryville University Choir’s Spring Performance in 2024. She’s beginning to learn how to adjust and make reeds, instructed by Laura Ross. She is a first year, full-time musician here in the Saint Louis Symphony Youth Orchestra. Vache is very excited to make music with students her age, who are just as passionate about playing as she is. She has been playing oboe for three years and is entering Lafayette High School as an incoming freshman in the Fall of 2024. 

Besides music, Vache enjoys reading, eating new foods, and biking. She cannot imagine life without music and hopes to continue playing in the SLSYO in the upcoming years.