My name is Marc DesRoches (he/him), a music educator, oboist, and pianist from Miscouche, currently living in Kensington, PE. 

I hold a Bachelor of Music in Oboe Performance from UPEI (2018) and a Bachelor of Music Education (K-12) from Memorial University (2021). 

I perform regularly with the PEI Symphony Orchestra as second chair oboe, the Luminos Chamber Orchestra as principal oboe, and perform freelance around PEI as an oboist and pianist.

I teach private music lessons through my studio, Music with Marc (but I’m sure you’ve gathered that by now!).

I am a proud member of the PEI Registered Music Association.

I also work part time at the Samuel’s Coffee House drive through location in Summerside!

In my spare time, I enjoy building things out of old musical instruments (check out my work here at www.brassglow.ca!), gardening, brewing the perfect cup of coffee, and hanging out with friends. I am an avid gamer, so if you want to learn only your favourite video game music in lessons with me, I’m so down!

If that isn’t enough info for you, read on to learn about how I got here, to opening Music with Marc!

Oboe & Piano

My love for instrumental music started in elementary school when I joined the band class at Miscouche Consolidated School on trumpet. I jumped around each section of the band learning to play many different instruments, taking a particular interest in woodwind instruments. Hungry to learn more about music, I began piano and music theory lessons with Joyce Hein at Joyful Melodies Music Studio in junior high–my second passion after oboe.

When I started at Three Oaks Senior High, I found out they had an oboe (I had never seen one before as most school music programs don’t have one!) and fell in love with the sound and feel of the instrument. I started driving to Sackville, New Brunswick once a week to begin taking lessons with Belinda Code, oboe professor emeritus of Mount Allison University. My love for oboe grew, so I decided to study it in university, and the rest is history!

Music Education

My love for teaching began in the Three Oaks band room. I had been taking piano and studying advanced music theory rudiments for a few years now, so I would often help my classmates with their studies in music. My band director (now colleague and friend) Krista Bryson saw my passion for teaching and created endless opportunities for me, one of which included taking a co-op placement as a student teacher, coaching me through lesson planning, teaching my peers, score study, rehearsing and performing pieces with the wind ensemble (we swapped places for these pieces–I conducted, and she played oboe!). These opportunities brought me endless joy which made it clear that I wanted to become a music teacher!

After graduating from UPEI in 2018, I worked as an Oboe Teaching Artist with Sistema New Brunswick, a free after school music program. There I taught groups of beginner oboists within Sistema (as young as 7 years old!) and adolescents in the Moncton Youth Orchestra (regional) and the New Brunswick Youth Orchestra (provincial). The Sistema program is so powerful and important for the youth of New Brunswick, and I’ll cherish my opportunity to work there as a time of growth, exploring and nurturing for my love of teaching! 

During the pandemic, I started the course work for my Bachelor of Music Education through MUN, and was brought back to the island to complete my practicum at Three Oaks with Krista Bryson (a full circle moment!). After graduating, I took a break from teaching and worked in arts admin for a year, but felt a part of me was missing. This led me to opening Music with Marc in April of 2023. Since then, my cup has been overflowing with joy–I have never been happier being able to work with so many budding music scholars on my Island!

2025 – House fire

On June 2nd, 2025, a fire broke out at my home. It spread quickly and what resulted was a total loss, taking everything except myself and my partner who made it out without so much as a scrape or burn. Unfortunately the losses included my music studio/all my instruments and most tragically, my beloved & sweet kitty, Tchaikovsky. I got her at 5 weeks old, and she just turned 9 years old before the fire.

Lessons for the 2025 school year ceased early, and after a long and grueling 7 months of rebuilding and planning, my partner and I have finally settled in a house rental right in the heart of Kensington that has a great setup for me to continue teaching again!

Throughout the whole process, the Island community showed us so much kindness and generosity. We set up a GoFundMe that reached over $30,000, and people were at our door every single day for weeks to follow after the fire with things for us. We got back on our feet so quickly, leaving us feeling so thankful to be a part of such a giving and caring Island community. ❤️