Gordon Hunt
Oboe
Gordon Hunt
Professor, Guildhall School of Music and Drama
Gordon Hunt was born in London and studied with Terence MacDonagh. He performs throughout the world as soloist and conductor and with renowned chamber ensembles. He has a distinguished orchestral career as Principal Oboe of the Oxford Philharmonic and London Chamber Orchestras and formerly for many years, the Philharmonia and London Philharmonic Orchestras. He is also Principal Oboe of The World Orchestra for Peace. He plays an XM oboe by Howarth of London.
Regarded as one of the world’s leading oboists, he has appeared as soloist with international orchestras and is also an established conductor. Over more than five decades he has played concertos and chamber music and conducted orchestras on six continents.
In 2005 he was honoured to be invited to play the Adagio from Albinoni’s D minor concerto at the Service of Dedication and Prayer celebrating the marriage of King Charles and Queen Camilla, and in 2010 he was designated a UNESCO Artist for Peace. In 2024 he was appointed an Honorary Member of the International Double Reed Society.
He has recorded extensively for many different record companies, including all of Mozart’s solo music. The Richard Strauss concerto (Decca) was acclaimed in the Penguin CD Guide as the finest recorded version. He has made many recordings for BIS, including “elevazione”, a very successful CD of popular concertos, which he also directed. In total, he appears on twenty-six solo and chamber music CDs. He is the original “Gabriel’s Oboe” in the music by Ennio Morricone for the 1986 film “The Mission”.
Over several years, Gordon Hunt will be undertaking engagements as soloist and conductor in Germany, Italy, Madeira, Spain, Sweden, Denmark, Finland, Czechoslovakia, Romania, South Africa, Brazil, Argentina, Chile, Panama, China, Australia and New Zealand, as well as Great Britain.
For some years he has been a member of the faculty for two prestigious festivals – TMAF in Taiwan and FEMUSC in Brazil.
Outside of music, he is passionate about nature and the environment, and fly fishing for trout and salmon.