Richard Woodhams ''(né'' Richard Clarence Woodhams; born June 17, 1949, in

Palo Alto, California Palo Alto ( ; Spanish language, Spanish for ) is a charter city in northwestern Santa Clara County, California, United States, in the San Francisco Bay Area, named after a Sequoia sempervirens, coastal redwood tree known as El Palo Alto. Th ...

) 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 recording artist. He was Principal

Oboe 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. The most common type of oboe, the soprano oboe pitched in C, ...

of 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 ...

from 1977 until his retirement in August 2018. He also served as Professor of Oboe at 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 ...

from 1985 until his dismissal in 2021. At the age of fifteen, Woodhams was accepted by the Curtis Institute and began study 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 ...

, graduating in 1968. In 1969, he won the position of Principal Oboe with the

St. Louis Symphony Orchestra The St. Louis Symphony Orchestra (SLSO) is an American symphony orchestra based in St. Louis, Missouri. Founded in 1880 by Joseph Otten as the St. Louis Choral Society, the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra is the second-oldest professional symphony or ...

under Music Director

Walter Susskind Jan Walter Susskind (1 May 1913 – 25 March 1980) was a Czech-born British conductor, teacher and pianist. He began his career in his native Prague and travelled to London in March 1939 when Germany invaded Czechoslovakia. He worked for substa ...

. He assumed the position of principal oboe of the

in 1977, succeeding his teacher. He succeeded de Lancie as oboe instructor at the Curtis Institute in 1985. He is faculty member at 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 ...

and has taught at the Luzerne and Sarasota Music Festivals, among others. Woodhams's teachers include Raymond Dusté,

, John Mack,

Robert Bloom Robert Bloom (May 3, 1908February 13, 1994) was an oboist with an orchestral and solo career, a composer and arranger contributing to the oboe musical repertoire, repertory, and a teacher of several successful oboists. Bloom is considered seminal i ...

, and Jean-Louis LeRoux. Woodhams's students hold principal positions in many major orchestras, such as the

Chicago Symphony The Chicago Symphony Orchestra (CSO) is an American symphony orchestra based in Chicago, Illinois. Founded by Theodore Thomas in 1891, the ensemble has been based in the Symphony Center since 1904 and plays a summer season at the Ravinia Fes ...

(William Welter),

New York Philharmonic The New York Philharmonic is an American symphony orchestra based in New York City. Known officially as the ''Philharmonic-Symphony Society of New York, Inc.'', and globally known as the ''New York Philharmonic Orchestra'' (NYPO) or the ''New Yo ...

( Liang Wang), Houston Symphony (Jonathan Fischer),

Pittsburgh Symphony The Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra (PSO) is an American orchestra based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The orchestra is resident at Heinz Hall, located in Pittsburgh's Cultural District. Since 2008, the orchestra's music director is Manfred Ho ...

( Cynthia Koledo DeAlmeida), Baltimore Symphony ( Katherine Needleman), and Atlanta Symphony ( Elizabeth Koch Tiscione); other students in major orchestras includ
Robert Walters
English Hornist of th
Cleveland OrchestraShea Scruggs
Assistant Principal Oboe of th
Baltimore Symphony OrchestraJonathan Blumenfeld
Second Oboist of th
Philadelphia Orchestra
Peter Smith, Associate Principal Oboe of the Philadelphia Orchestra, an
Susan Spector
Second Oboist of th
Metropolitan Opera Orchestra

References

Biography
at the Philadelphia Orchestra's website 1949 births Living people American classical oboists American male classical musicians American male oboists Aspen Music Festival and School faculty Musicians from Palo Alto, California Curtis Institute of Music alumni Classical musicians from California Musicians of the Philadelphia Orchestra {{US-woodwind-musician-stub