Jay Light is an American

oboist An oboist (formerly hautboist) is a musician who plays the oboe or any oboe family instrument, including the oboe d'amore, cor anglais or English horn, bass oboe and piccolo oboe or oboe musette. The following is a list of notable past and pres ...

and author who was the principal oboist of the Philadelphia Lyric and Grand Opera Companies from 1962 to 1964 and the L'orchestre Symphonique de Quebec from 1964 to 1966. He also performed in numerous recitals and concerts through his career.

Formative years

A native of

Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

, Pennsylvania, Light was a son of Israel Light. His brother, Herbert Light, was a violinist with the Philadelphia Orchestra. Jay Light studied with

John de Lancie John Sherwood de Lancie, Jr. (born March 20, 1948) is an American actor, best known for his role as Q in various ''Star Trek'' series, beginning with '' Star Trek: The Next Generation'' in 1987 and leading up to the third season of '' Star Tre ...

, Charles M. Morris, and Norman Wells Jr., all of whom were associated with the

Philadelphia Orchestra The Philadelphia Orchestra is an American symphony orchestra, based in Philadelphia. One of the " Big Five" American orchestras, the orchestra is based at the Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts, where it performs its subscription concerts, n ...

. Principal oboist of the Philadelphia Lyric and Grand Opera Companies from 1962 to 1964, he graduated from the

Curtis Institute of Music The Curtis Institute of Music is a private conservatory in Philadelphia. It offers a performance diploma, a Bachelor of Music, Master of Music in opera, and a Professional Studies Certificate in opera. All students attend on a full scholarshi ...

in 1963.McMahon, "This Week in Music," ''Atlantic City Press'', March 31, 1963. From 1964 to 1966, he was the principal oboist of the L'orchestre Symphonique de Quebec. He then served in the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the primary Land warfare, land service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is designated as the Army of the United States in the United States Constitution.Article II, section 2, clause 1 of th ...

as a military journalist and was an Armed Forces Network (now the

American Forces Network The American Forces Network (AFN) is a government television and radio broadcast service the United States Armed Forces provides to soldiers stationed or assigned overseas, and is headquartered at Fort Meade in Maryland. AFN comprises two sub ...

) as a television news anchor from 1966 to 1969. After completing his military service, he taught at the

Interlochen Arts Academy Interlochen Center for the Arts ( '; also known as I.C.A. or Inty) is a Nonprofit organization, non-profit corporation which operates Visual arts education, arts education institutions and Music venue, performance venues. Established in 1928 b ...

(from 1969 to 1971) and earned his Master of Music degree at

Michigan State University Michigan State University (Michigan State or MSU) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in East Lansing, Michigan, United States. It was founded in 1855 as the Agricultural College of the State o ...

in 1972. Beginning in 1974, Light was principal oboist for the

Des Moines Symphony The Des Moines Symphony (DMSO) is a United States symphony orchestra based in Des Moines, Iowa. The current conductor is Joseph Giunta. Established in 1937 as the Des Moines Civic Orchestra, it performs both Masterworks and Pops concerts as well ...

. He was a member of the

Drake University Drake University is a private university in Des Moines, Iowa, United States. The University offers over 140 undergraduate and graduate programs, including professional programs in business, education, Legal education, law, and pharmacy. Drake U ...

faculty from 1972 to 2002. During his career, he also performed at the Berkshire (

Tanglewood Tanglewood is a music venue and Music festival, festival in the towns of Lenox, Massachusetts, Lenox and Stockbridge, Massachusetts, Stockbridge in the Berkshire Hills of western Massachusetts. It has been the summer home of the Boston Symphony ...

) Festival, the Festival of Two Worlds ( Festival dei Due Mondi) in Spoleto, Italy, and the

Aspen Music Festival The Aspen Music Festival and School (AMFS) is a classical music festival held annually in Aspen, Colorado. It is noted both for its concert programming and the musical training it offers to mostly young-adult music students. Founded in 1949, th ...

. He retired in 2002 and lives in

Fort Myers Beach, Florida Fort Myers Beach is a town located on the north end of Estero Island in Lee County, Florida, United States. The town is on the Gulf of Mexico and is accessed from the mainland by a bridge over Estero Bay (Florida), Estero Bay. It is part of the ...

Author

References

External links

Retirement Announcement
{{DEFAULTSORT:Light, Jay Living people Year of birth missing (living people) Curtis Institute of Music alumni Drake University faculty American classical oboists American male classical musicians American male oboists Musicians from Philadelphia Place of birth missing (living people) Classical musicians from Pennsylvania