Great Oboists on Music and Musicianship

What do the world's most prominent oboists have to say about their musical ideas, performance techniques, and teaching strategies? Michele L. Fiala and Martin Schuring, themselves skilled oboists, undertook the project of asking twenty-six of them about their musicianship and pedagogy. The results are collected in Great Oboists on Music and Musicianship, which provides a unique window into how these virtuosi of wind instruments think about their craft. Each chapter paints an engaging portrait of a leading oboist that allows them to share--in their own words--their insights on the performance techniques, learning strategies, and career moves that propelled them to their current stature. The captivating prose chapters that Fiala and Schuring composed from the interviews allow each artist's personality to shine through as they convey their hard-won wisdom on topics such as musical interpretation, the relationship between vocal and instrumental music, being a good ensemble player, and warm-up routines. The diverse array of musicians portrayed in this book includes orchestral and solo performers from across North America, Europe, and Australia. Their practical advice will resonate not just with oboists but also with players and teachers of other instruments as they pursue their own musical journeys.

Michele L. Fiala is Professor of Oboe at Ohio University. She has performed throughout the United States, Italy, England, Germany, France, Spain, Canada, and Japan. She served for four years as the Secretary of the International Double Reed Society. She released two solo CDs of contemporary oboe music, Overheard and The Light Wraps You, and is the author of the Performer's Guide to Nineteenth Century Italian Music for Oboe and English Horn. Martin Schuring is Professor of Music at Arizona State University and performed as a member of orchestras across the world. He is the author of Oboe: Art & Method (OUP, 2009) and a former president of the International Double Reed Society.