Alex Klein ’87, AD ’89, who joined Oberlin’s faculty last year as Artist in Residence and Visiting Professor of Oboe, has been named Professor of Oboe. Klein is former principal oboe of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. Robert Walters, who had been Visiting Assistant Professor of Oboe and English Horn, is now Associate Professor of Oboe and English Horn. He is a member of the Cleveland Orchestra and serves as the ensemble’s solo English horn player.

“Both Alex and Robert are extraordinary artists and teachers,” says Dean of the Conservatory David H. Stull. “We are tremendously pleased to be bringing them to Oberlin.”

Oboist Alex Klein studied with the late Professor of Oboe James Caldwell at the Conservatory, earning a Bachelor of Music degree in 1987 and an Artist’s Diploma in 1989. He was principal oboe of the Chicago Symphony from 1995 to 2004, and in addition to solo performances with that orchestra, he has been featured with the Philadelphia Orchestra, the Orchestre de la Suisse Romande, and the Chicago Sinfonietta. He won a 2002 Grammy Award with the Chicago Symphony for his Teldec recording of Strauss’ Oboe Concerto. Klein has also recorded for Boston Records, Newport Classics, the Musical Heritage Society, and Cedille Records.

Klein made his solo orchestral debut at the age of 10 in his native Brazil. The following year, he was honored with an invitation to join the Camerata Antiqua, one of Brazil’s foremost chamber ensembles. In the years to follow he toured and performed extensively as a soloist, recitalist, and as a member of several professional Brazilian orchestras.

He has been awarded numerous international prizes, including first prize in the inaugural Lucarelli International Competition for Solo Oboe Players, which was held at Carnegie Hall, and first prize in the 1988 International Competition for Musical Performers in Geneva, Switzerland, in which he was the only oboist to win first prize since Heinz Holliger three decades earlier.

Besides teaching, Klein conducts, performs solo concertos, is artistic director of the Santa Catarina Music Festival, (FEMUSC) in Brazil, and participates in other sociocultural music festivals around the world. Klein was the guest soloist for an Oberlin Chamber Orchestra concert at Cleveland’s Severance Hall in April 2006. The concert was dedicated to the memory of his late teacher, James Caldwell, and was conducted by Bridget-Michaele Reischl, Director of the Oberlin Orchestras.

Robert Walters is currently a member of the oboe section of the Cleveland Orchestra as the solo English horn player, a distinction he has held since 2004.  He has held the same position with the Metropolitan Opera and Cincinnati Symphony orchestras, and has performed and recorded with the Philadelphia Orchestra. Recently he was guest soloist with the Chicago Symphony and Orpheus Chamber orchestras, and this season made his solo debut with the Cleveland Orchestra. Other solo appearances include performances with the Cincinnati, Redlands, and Curtis Institute symphony orchestras, the New York Chamber Soloists, Concerto Soloists of Philadelphia, and the Beijing Radio Symphony (China).

Walters has participated in the National Repertory Orchestra, the Bard, Blossom, Spoleto, and Marlboro music festivals, and toured as a member of Musicians from Marlboro.  He is currently on the artist faculty of the Aspen and Colorado College music festivals, and has been Instructor of Oboe at the University of Pennsylvania and at Bard and Haverford colleges.

A graduate of the Curtis Institute of Music and the Columbia University Graduate Writing Division, Walters has studied with Richard Woodhams, Principal Oboe of the Philadelphia Orchestra, and the late John Mack, former Principal Oboe of the Cleveland Orchestra.