The oboe is a type of double-reed woodwind instrument. Oboes are usually made of wood, but may also be made of synthetic materials, such as plastic, resin, or hybrid composites.
Woodwind instruments are a family of musical instruments within the greater category of wind instruments. Common examples include flute, clarinet, oboe, bassoon, and saxophone. There are two main types of woodwind instruments: flutes and reed instruments. The main distinction between these instruments and other wind instruments is the way in which they produce sound. All woodwinds produce sound by splitting the air blown into them on a sharp edge, such as a reed or a fipple. Despite the name, a woodwind may be made of any material, not just wood. Common examples include brass, silver, cane, as well as other metals such as gold and platinum. The saxophone, for example, though made of brass, is considered a woodwind because it requires a reed to produce sound. Occasionally, woodwinds are made of earthen materials, especially ocarinas.
The cor anglais, or English horn is a double-reed woodwind instrument in the oboe family. It is approximately one and a half times the length of an oboe, making it essentially an alto oboe in F.
Trevor David Pinnock is a British harpsichordist and conductor.
The oboe da caccia, also sometimes referred to as an oboe da silva, is a double reed woodwind instrument in the oboe family, pitched a fifth below the oboe and used primarily in the Baroque period of European classical music. It has a curved tube, and in the case of instruments by Eichentopf, a brass bell, unusual for an oboe.
Giuseppe Francesco Gaspare Melchiorre Baldassare Sammartini was an Italian composer and oboist during the late Baroque and early Classical era. Although he was from Milan, most of his professional life was spent in London and with Frederick, the Prince of Wales. He also had a younger brother, Giovanni Battista Sammartini, who likewise became a renowned composer.
Eugene Izotov is a Russian-born oboist and recording artist. He is Principal Oboist of the San Francisco Symphony appointed by Michael Tilson Thomas in 2014. He is the first Russian-born oboist in any major U.S. symphony orchestra. Previously, he was Principal Oboist of the Chicago Symphony, Principal Oboist of the Metropolitan Opera, Principal Oboist of the Kansas City Symphony, and has appeared as guest Principal Oboe with the Boston Symphony and New York Philharmonic. He studied with American oboist Ralph Gomberg at Boston University, from which he received the Distinguished Alumnus Award. In addition to being recognized as one of the world's premiere orchestral oboists, Izotov has been awarded top prizes at international competitions for solo oboists in Moscow (1990), Saint Petersburg (1991), New York (1995) and the First Prize at the 2001 Fernand Gillet International Oboe competition. Eugene Izotov's solo and chamber music collaborations include partnerships with Bernard Haitink, Riccardo Muti, James Levine, Nicholas McGegan, Michael Tilson Thomas, Jane Glover, Yo Yo Ma, Pinchas Zukerman, Itzhak Perlman, Jaime Laredo, André Watts, Emanuel Ax, Yefim Bronfman, and the Tokyo String Quartet. He has appeared over 70 times as soloist with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, the Boston Symphony Orchestra, San Francisco Symphony, MET Chamber Ensemble, Pacific Music Festival, Mainly Mozart Festival, and has performed principal oboe on numerous Grammy winning recordings on BMG, Sony Classical, SFS Media, and CSOResound.
Paul Goodwin is an English conductor and former oboist.
Antonio Pasculli was an Italian oboist and composer, known as "the Paganini of the oboe".
David Reichenberg was an American oboist and a highly respected specialist on the baroque oboe. He was born in Cedar Falls, Iowa and learnt the flute, violin, and piano as a child. He began his oboe studies with Dr. Myron E. Russell of the University of Northern Iowa. Beginning in 1969, Reichenberg studied at the Indiana University School of Music, continuing his oboe studies with Jerry Sirucek, former oboist with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. Graduating in 1972, Reichenberg moved to Salzburg, where he attended the Mozarteum. It was in Salzburg that Reichenberg met Nikolaus Harnoncourt, director of Concentus Musicus Wien. Reichenberg became increasingly interested in playing the oboe's repertoire on the instrument for which it had been written and, with the assistance of Harnoncourt, moved to Vienna in order to study baroque oboe with Jürg Schäftlein. He simultaneously studied oboe making with Paul Hailperin, building the instrument upon which he played for four years. Reichenberg took part in many concerts and recordings with Concentus Musicus, and gradually increased his activities with that group.
Bruce Haynes was an American and Canadian oboist, recorder player, musicologist and specialist in historical performance practice.
Melvin Berman was the solo oboist of the Montreal Symphony Orchestra and the Radio-Canada orchestra in Montreal, as well as a member of the Baroque Trio of Montreal.
Omar Zoboli is an Italian oboist, since 1998 till 2018 professor at the Musikhochschule Basel - Switzerland
Christopher Palameta is an oboist specializing in historically informed performance. He is based in Paris.
Greta De Reyghere is a Belgian soprano who specializes in early music and Baroque music in historically informed performance but also performs a variety of other classical music in concert. She is a teacher at the Royal Conservatory of Liège.
Jacob Hendrik "Jaap" Stotijn was a Dutch oboist. He was also active as a pianist and conductor. Jaap Stotijn has been credited as the founder of the Dutch school of oboe playing. "The Dutch style ... is the product of the distinctive reed-making and playing style of Jaap Stotijn." Contemporary oboists in this lineage include Han de Vries, Koen van Slogteren, Peter Bree, Bart Schneemann, and the current principal oboe in Stotijn's orchestra, Pauline Oostenrijk.
Maurice Bourgue was a French oboist, composer, conductor, and academic teacher who made an international career. He was principal oboist with the Orchestre de Paris from its foundation in 1967 until 1979. He founded a wind octet of members of the orchestra in 1972, for performing and recordings. He taught chamber music at the Conservatoire de Paris and the Geneva Conservatoire. Bourgue played in world premieres, such as Les Citations by Henri Dutilleux in 1991.
Marcel Ponseele is a Belgian oboist.
