Music, Memory, and Meaning: How creativity helps us belong

Presented by Merideth Hite Estevez

Saturday, July 26, 2025, 7:30 PM
About the Lecture:
Join oboist and author Merideth Hite Estevez for a performance and talk exploring the profound ways art connects us. Featuring works of Barber, Debussy, Clara Schumann, and more, this unique concert and discussion invites you to find resonance in the power of music to spark joy and deepen our understanding of the human experience.
About Merideth Hite Estevez
An active freelancer and sought-after recitalist, oboist Dr. Merideth Hite Estevez has performed and taught throughout North and South America, Asia, and Europe. She has performed with top orchestras in the US and abroad, including the Met Opera Orchestra and PhillyPops, and is currently the English hornist/Second Oboe of the Chamber Orchestra of NY. She has served on faculties of numerous universities and schools of music, most recently as Associate Professor of Oboe at University of Delaware. As the founder and director of “Artists for Joy,” she invites artists into community to unleash joy in the creation of art and to consider creativity as a spiritual practice. Her podcast of the same name was a 2022 winner of the Award of Excellence in 2022 Communicator Awards. She has degrees from The Juilliard School, Yale School of Music, and Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music. Her first book, The Artist’s Joy: A Guide to Getting Unstuck, Embracing Imperfection, and Loving Your Creative Life, debuted at No. 1 in the Creativity category on Audible and held as the No. 2 New Release in Creativity on Amazon for multiple days during launch week.

When she’s not playing oboe or writing, Merideth enjoys drinking matcha lattes and running (not at the same time.) She hails from Abbeville, SC, but now lives in Bloomfield Hills with her husband, Rev. Edwin Estevez, daughter Eva, and son Eli.

About the Series:
Arts Speak is an educational series of lectures and performance lectures that celebrates the power of creativity through arts and music. Join us in person or tune in virtually to explore, learn, and connect on a wide variety of topics surrounding Arts and music with renowned experts. Presenters have included Dr. Samuel Adler, Susan Rogers, Michael Burritt, M. T. Anderson, and Ēriks Ešenvalds.

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