 The Oboe BBoard
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Author: ptarmiganfeather
Date: 2015-02-06 13:15
Am I the only one that plays almost exclusively in a concert band?
Band nite has a special place in my heart.
I've played mainly with a concert band. Two string groups and in church.
So what is your venue? I am genuinely curious.
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Author: mjfoboe
Date: 2015-02-06 16:52
Hi,
I am principal oboe in two established community orchestras and second in a symphonic band. I also sub in other orchestras if asked. I also attempt to play in chamber groups when feasible. At the moment a trio oboe clarinet bassoon.
One orchestra is a middle of the line group POPS (Senior Pops Orchestra of Long Island) orchestra with more of persons of mixed abilities and the other orchestra (The Orchestra at Shelter Rock) is higher level group with some paid personnel. In the latter orchestra - we play lots of choral music;for example Verdi's Requiem, etc. And of course major symphonic music of all periods. Last summer we performed the Afro America Symphony by William Grant Still. The Symphonic Band (The Band of Long Island) is also a high caliber group.
I am very lucky to live in the NY metro area....Long Island where within 30 miles there are 5 or more orchestras and many bands.
Mark
Post Edited (2015-02-06 17:56)
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Author: WoodwindOz
Date: 2015-02-06 18:01
I was an exclusive band-ite for many, many years...my husband did a wind band conducting Masters when we were in the US so we've done the band thing together for years - him as a conductor, me as a librarian/committee member/player. I have played in most of the metropolitan bands in my state, on various instruments but mostly oboe.
I found that here in Australia (well, Western Australia for sure), band becomes too time consuming because we do a lot of commemorative outdoor gigs (which is not so good for oboe!) Every band will do Australia Day citizenship ceremonies (it's normally about 110F here on Oz Day), we have ANZAC Day dawn services, numerous Christmas carol gigs (it's summer then, so that's outside too). Additionally, we would do three concert seasons as well. Orchestra - three or four Sunday concerts a year, no more.
These days I play regularly in one orchestra, sub for another and I am about to start a quintet with some community orch friends. I attend an amateur orchestra/chamber camp in the summer.
I miss band, I am a bandy at heart, but orchestra suits my lifestyle better these days.
Rachel
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Author: Oboelips
Date: 2015-02-06 20:25
Greetings!
I'm principal oboe for a 40-year old Community Orchestra (this is my 29th season).
The season runs Sept through May, so in the summer I do pit orchestra (I do oboe/Ehorn, and also double on flute, picc, alto/sop sax, and 2nd/3rd clarinet).
I'm married to a bassoonist, who is also an orchestra principal, and does pit orchestras with me (Clarinet, Bsn, all saxes).
We play in a Ballet Orchestra (live ballet) in the spring, and while I've often played principal, for last year's Prokofiev's "Cinderella", I played just English Horn, due to a cyst on my palm (eventually disappeared), and I rather liked not being quite so busy through that.
Since we have so much "doublereed power" under one roof, we formed a Wind Quintet with other dachshund owners, years ago. We do weddings, garden parties, Christmas gigs (parties at insurance companies, holiday music for shoppers at upscale department stores). We do the occasional educational concert for schools.
We have a doublereed ensemble with two other musicians as well, and play varying gigs around town. (2 oboes, each doubling ehorn, 2 bassoons, 1 can double ehorn).
Both the quintet and doublereed ensemble rehearse music at nursing homes and hospices (especially at Christmas), gratis. At retirement homes, we ask them to enjoy, but listen with a critical ear--we ask for suggestions afterwards. The feedback is a great thing.
We also do the occasional church cantata, etc. I love to stay busy!
Oboefully,
Deb
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Author: oboi
Date: 2015-02-07 01:20
I have a special place for concert band, locked far away and never to be opened again... ha! Which is funny, since if I never played in band, I probably never would have taken up the oboe. Besides the music (I find it fun to play the occasional showstopper/movie theme, but generally have no interest in any music composed in the past 200 years), I find the oboe just to be ineffective as a band instrument. We're wonderful for the solos that pop up, but generally when everyone is playing, we're just buried. Add to the fact that in my bands I was often the lone one (or two) oboist among tens of flutes/clarinets, it felt like me vs. the ensemble.
I used to play in a community orchestra, which basically saw me grow from a beginner to a pre-professional oboist. I'm not sure if I gained much musically from it directly, but I am sure glad it allowed me to meet other adult amateurs and kickstart my musical renaissance. I also played for a short time in the university concert band (intermediate) and university wind ensemble (advanced).
My main focus currently is being part of an adult amateur chamber music organization. Me and a few others founded this non-profit which has bi-monthy informal public lunchtime concerts. We do the whole shebang, with professional-quality posters, a real promotional push out to the community and the concert is livestreamed out on the internet. We also do concerts at seniors homes and have some pretty large formal concert fundraisers in the works. Anyway, I am so fortunate to be a part of this, as how many chances for amateurs are there to play chamber music in a real concert setting? I make a ton of ad-hoc groups, but there are 2 main ones I'm normally in. I play the baroque oboe with a rec/vl/vc/bsn/hpd group. We've been hammering out a good chunk of Telemann, Fasch and Vivaldi. The cello still plays on steel strings on a modern instrument, but other than that, we're all period. We've recently created a modern woodwind quintet, and given the personnel in this group, I would love to tackle the most challenging quintet music out there one day. We have a small group of baroque strings/hpd which will serve to be a string orchestra, so I hope to soon have a 3rd regular group to play oboe concertos, cantatas and such (might be able to play both oboes). I actually just did a Bach double harpsichord concerto with them, and will swap to the oboe for the next performance (Bach 1060 and 1060R).
Other than that, I get called to play with the local amateur string orchestra on occasion (we're doing Bach's orchestral suite this month). Recently, someone created an advanced amateur/semi-pro level group, who hopes to do symphonies and large chamber wind works. So, I will dabble in that, too.
There is nothing I find more satisfying than playing chamber music. The hard part is finding the people for it and especially if you're like me and don't want to stick to one set of instrumentation. But once all the puzzle pieces come together, boy is it fun.
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Author: ohsuzan
Date: 2015-02-07 04:16
I perhaps go broad rather than deep. In self-defense? (Could not go deep if my life depended on it . . .)
I play in three orchestras, as detailed on another recent thread. Came to orchestra after a lifetime (but actually, it was only 10 years, because that's how long I have been an oboist) of playing in community bands. And I got,and completely deserved, the disdain of one community band director when, at our first meeting, I told him how very much I HATE playing in bands. But he's in one of my orchestras, as well, and we have made nice.
And then there are the ensembles. Two quintets. One which is very "serious". but struggles always to present anything competent. Another which is just a lark, but is actually quite good. Go figure.
After the quintets, two trios. One, a classical Trio d'Anches (oboe, clarinet, bassoon) which is wonderful because the other two folks in the group never actually realized that there is a wealth of repertoire for this instrumentation. Really, guys, it is a great combination.
The other trio is the idiosyncratic one. Flute, Cor Anglais, and Violoncello. What an absolutely wonderful combination!
I am plenty busy. When Summer comes (which, goldurn it, it always does), I am bored out of my mind, with nothing to do. Might even consider a band, at that point.
Susan
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Author: Old Oboe
Date: 2015-02-07 20:36
Concert band. I play in two summer community bands and two winter community bands. I actually enjoy the odd gigs like a 40's themed concert for the 70th anniversary of a local store or the odd memorial service or St. Patrick's Day at the Elks club! I use a Riec with a plastic top joint for those iffish outdoor venues.
Linda
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Author: jhoyla
Date: 2015-02-07 22:49
Two orchestras, two wind quintets and occasional pit-orchestra work (Ob./C.A.)
One orchestra is an university orchestra which generally meets for 3-4 months a year, does one concert and disbands until the following season. It was this conductor's faith in me that brought me back to oboe six years after I had given up. I play first oboe, we do classic/romantic repertoire and we pad the orchestra with pros for the concerts, which are generally excellent.
The second orchestra I have just joined is a community orchestra in which I share 1st oboe with an excellent oboist. Four concerts a year in a small but beautiful auditorium, and so far the soloists (Krommer Clarinet cto, Mozart flute cto) have come from within the ranks.
The two wind-quintets are interesting. A lot of us work in high-tec jobs and so are very pressed for time. We have discovered mornings - we meet early in the morning in the home of one of the players, play until about 10:00 AM, and then arrive at work "fashionably late". It works a treat.
The pit work is for a wonderful conductor and a fine team of amateur operatic performers. G&S and Musicals. More often than not I play for him for free - I just love it!
J.
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Author: ptarmiganfeather
Date: 2015-02-08 12:12
Wow sounds like it's easy to become involved in lots of groups.
Even here in rural Alaska I could easily fill my week with musical commitments. Band nite, orchestra for the south valley one day, north valley the next, church, and whatever Easter group wants to play and BAM my week is full, if I chose to play in all the groups. Of course, all are for fun.
All of these winter time venues are far away, like 45 minutes minimum. So I commit to the band and love it. It's worth every late night drive home worried about hitting a moose or driving through snow. We have had a good winter so far, and roads are decent.
Then summer hits and we get all lots of daylight and everyone seems to drop their musical instruments for (fill in the blank more promising endeavor) outdoor activity.
I wish we had a more musical community in my small town. We don't and it saddens me.
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Author: Nannette
Date: 2015-02-10 00:42
I play in two different college wind ensembles in the winter, and 2 different community bands in the summer. Also I play in a wind quintet. I'd love to have the chance to play in an orchestra sometime!
Nannette
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Author: JohnW
Date: 2015-02-12 18:57
I play in a small community orchestra, oboe and cor. Guess I'm principle, being the only one. I've been playing about 2 years so am definitely a beginner and have found the orchestra a great push for improving my playing and general musicality.
This group plays music of moderate difficulty, right now doing 1st movement of the Jupiter symphony and Pachelbel Canon in D plus some more to come as the season advances.
I also participated in a quintet, playing the French horn parts on the cor and really liked that a lot, unfortunately a household move interrupted that.
JohnW
amateur adult beginner, oboe and cor
www.OboeHobo.com
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Author: rgombine
Date: 2015-03-07 16:07
From fall to Spring I play in an excellent community orchestra. Winds and Brass are all community members who are composed mostly of music educators and are really excellent players. Strings are anchored by a group of paid folk and fleshed out by community members. Conductor is amazing which for me has been the crucial decision in determining which group to play in (this is my 4th orchestra). I also play in a quintet come springtime. In summer I will play band depending on their schedule. It frequently conflicts with our holidays which is a bummer. Nothing more depressing than starting the orchestra season in the Fall with mush for chops -- it's always a long climb back
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Author: concertmaster3
Date: 2015-03-11 07:44
I play with a local professional orchestra as their English horn player. I also sub in a few symphonies in the area on oboe and clarinet, and do a lot of pit work on other woodwinds.
I also play in a reed quintet, Quintet Sirocco.
Ron Ford
Woodwind Specialist
Performer/Teacher/Arranger
http://www.RonFordMusic.com
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Author: Halcyon440
Date: 2015-04-21 05:53
I remembered my login after several years away! I started playing oboe at age 30 ten years ago and took 4 years off in there to have two kids. I've been back at it since May of 2012 when I joined an audition free community orchestra. It was my first orchestral experience ever and I was hooked since the big symphonic works are my first love. We grew from playing easiest pieces to entire symphonies (most recently Beethoven 5). They play year round, which is nice.
Last year I also joined a local college orchestra that is several steps above my first one. Am principal there and it's a lot more pressure because the players are much better and you can't hide. It's been a wonderful challenge for me and I've grown tremendously in the past year as a result. I've also enjoyed playing some great works such as Schubert 8, Mendelssohn 5, and Dvorak 8. Now that I played the 2.5 measure English Horn solo on the Dvorak the conductor may program more EH Going forward. Yay!!!
One of the first violinists there is the president of an even better orchestra in CT. THey are audition only and made up of music educators, serious amateurs, and some pros sprinkled in. She got me in to sub on second this past February. What a thrill!!! Was super scary, even on second, but a simply sublime experience. I couldn't believe the caliber of the players and that I was somehow in that mix. I had to work so hard 100% of the time to not stand out in a negative way. What a pleasure it was to play the Elgar Enigma variations. We also played the Dvorak Violin concerto. Scary, scary exposed low oboe 2 moment near the beginning. It was hit or miss at rehearsal with my low C giving out too soon or being flat, or both. But I managed to nail it when it counted! Phew. Would love to keep going up the ranks and playing with amazing groups like that. Am a huge orchestra junkie haha.
I also play in a very casual woodwind quintet. We sight read stuff every other week. I wish we would meet more regularly and play in public but it's not been a priority for the other members. Quintet music is a great endurance challenge for me.
My first orchestra is starting to break out into smaller groups for when we get invited to small venues so am looking to put myself out there to play beautiful longer pieces and not just symphony excerpts. We may do Ich Habe Genug in July.
Anyway I feel very fortunate for my orchestra experiences and look forward to many years of that. Glad to be back on here.
Hilda, adult amateur
"Nobody is ever patently right about music." - Vigil Thomson
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Author: Barry Vincent
Date: 2015-04-22 05:05
I'm the only Oboist in our local Theatre Group so if there is an Oboe part , and there usually is, well I'm 'The One'. The last musical that we performed was Walt Disney's "Beauty & The Beast" and it had 'full on' dance movements where everyone was piled onto the parts. During these wild and loud dances I put my Oboe down and pick up my C Clarinet and blast away with the rest of em. Our Conductor/s don't mind at all and I get to have a bit of a rest for a while. Far better than straining myself on the Oboe and not even being heard.
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