Compass Winds is a Seattle based quartet composed of musicians brought together by the love of the repertoire and the desire to make great music with great friends.
Performing repertoire from Classical to contemporary, Compass Winds pursues the exciting evolution of wind quartet music through the centuries. The distinct sonorities of the flute, oboe, clarinet, saxophone, and bassoon combine as our voice to express the passion of the music and playing together.
Rose V. Johnson, a freelance solo and chamber ensemble musician, has been performing and teaching music since childhood. Rose received her Bachelor of Arts degree in Instrumental Music Performance, with an emphasis in flute, from Northern Arizona University and her Master of Music degree from the University of Washington. Her mentors include Erich Graf, Philip Swanson and Felix Skowronek. Rose is a member of the Ladies’ Quintessential Quintet, Compass Winds, Peregrine Rose Trio, has formerly been Principal Flute of the Ensign Symphony & Chorus and Northwest Symphony Orchestra, and has been a member of the National Flute Association's Professional Flute Choir in 2008, and 2010-2019. Rose maintains a private studio, works with youth chamber ensembles and has coached with the Seattle Youth Symphony's Summer Music program, Music Northwest Youth Chamber Summer program, the Evergreen Philharmonic and the Eastside Youth Concert Band. Rose is a founder of Collaborative Musicians’ Project and has served on the boards of the National Flute Association’s Performance Health Committee, the Seattle Flute Society, Silver Flight Ensembles and Foundation, and the Federal Way Arts Commission. Rose resides with her engineer husband in Issaquah, WA and is the proud mother of a violinist daughter and a multi-talented son.
Logan Esterling, oboist, earned a BM at the University of Washington. He studied with Mary Lynch, Principal Oboist of the Seattle Symphony, and has performed in masterclasses for Linda Strommen, Alex Klein, Ariana Ghez Farrell, Russ deLuna, and Earle Dumler. He holds the English Horn position in the Yakima Symphony Orchestra, and he performs regularly with Symphony Tacoma, North Corner Chamber Orchestra, Seattle Metropolitan Chamber Orchestra, Tacoma City Ballet Orchestra, and others. Mr. Esterling was recently the winner of the UW Symphony Concerto Competition and the Sewanee Music Festival Concerto Competition. He has also performed as a soloist with the Eastside Symphony Orchestra, Whidbey Island Consort Players, and Carillon Chamber Orchestra, performing works by Marcello and Mozart. As an active freelancer, Mr. Esterling has performed on multiple occasions with Evanescence and Lindsay Stirling, played on the soundtrack for the video game Destiny 2, and recorded music for a Dreamworks short.
Residing in Seattle since 2012, Lori Shepherd is a freelance musician and private music instructor specializing in woodwinds. She holds a Masters degree in Clarinet performance from the University of Utah, and has performed around the world in various ensembles on a dizzying assortment of instruments. Beside playing with Compass Winds, she currently plays clarinet with Ladies' Quintessential Quintet, Trio de Bois, Peregrine Rose Trio, and Blackwood&Silver Trio. She plays alto saxophone with Seattle Women’s Jazz Orchestra, and baritone saxophone with Bamboo and Brass Saxophone Quartet and Emerald City Saxophone Quartet. Putting her versatility as a woodwind doubler to good use, Lori has performed extensively in musical theater productions, including productions at Seattle Repertory Theater, Seattle Musical Theater, the Village Kidstage, and Showtunes Theatre Company. In addition to formerly teaching junior high band, she has taught private lessons since 2000, and recently began appearing as a guest artist and lecturer at universities in Utah and Idaho.
Woodwind artist, Derek Smith, is proficient on saxophone, clarinet, bassoon, and flute and has performed in numerous concert halls around the world. Well versed in both classical and commercial genres, recent performance highlights include the New World Symphony under the baton of Michael Tilson Thomas and a performance during Festival Miami. As a recording artist he has worked with Gloria Estefan, Chick Corea, Bobby McFerrin, and George Benson. Smith has performed with Arturo Sandoval, Maria Schneider, Dave Liebman, Gloria Estefan, George Benson, Vince Mendoza, Terence Blanchard, Bruce Hornsby, the Opus One Orchestra, Kravis Center Pops, Opera Naples, Michael Feinstein, Take 6, Kirk Whalum, Shelly Berg, and Dave Gruisin. Smith is also active in the musical theater world regularly appearing in productions in the Seattle area at The 5th Avenue Theater and The Village Theater. Smith currently maintains an active private studio in the Seattle area in addition to serving as a guest lecturer and adjudicator in the Lake Washington School district. His formal studies include a Bachelor of Music in Jazz Performance from California State University-Fresno, a Master of Music in Jazz Pedagogy and Jazz Saxophone Performance and a Doctorate of Musical Arts in multiple woodwind performance from the Frost School of Music at the University of Miami.