Oberlin Conservatory Community Mourns the Loss of Retired Professor Monique Duphil

Monique Duphil, who spent more than 30 years as a member of Oberlin Conservatory’s piano faculty, has passed away. Duphil is remembered by colleagues for her contributions to the piano program and by students for her dedication.

“I was privileged to play a number of piano four-hands and two-piano pieces with Monique, and was always inspired by her technical brilliance, musical insight, and collaborative spirit,” says Peter Takacs, retired Oberlin professor of piano. Marilyn McDonald, retired Oberlin professor of violin adds, “An opportunity to play French chamber music with her was considered a privilege by all the faculty instrumentalists at the Conservatory.”

French-born pianist Monique Duphil made her Paris debut with orchestra at age 15, performing Felix Mendelssohn's G-minor piano concerto with the Orchestre de la Société des Concerts du Conservatoire. She was launched on the world’s stages after earning prizes in four international competitions—including the Chopin Competition in Warsaw.

Duphil entered the Conservatoire National Superieur de Paris at age 10. She won a premier prix in piano at 15 and graduated the following year with a grand prix in professional chamber music. She later earned an artist diploma from the Musikhochschule of Stuttgart, Germany.

Duphil’s U.S. debut was performed with the Philadelphia Orchestra, substituting on just a few hours’ notice for cellist Mstislav Rostropovich. Over the course of her career, Duphil was the featured soloist with numerous symphony orchestras, among them The Cleveland Orchestra, Philadelphia Orchestra, Orchestre Symphonique de Québec, Warsaw, Bern, Münchner Symphoniker, Paris Orchestre Lamoureux, Caracas, Mexico, Lima, Rio de Janeiro, Montevideo, Seoul, Tokyo Metropolitan, Sapporo, Orchestra Ensemble Kanazawa, Taipei, Hong Kong, Singapore, New Zealand Symphony Orchestra, Sydney Symphony Orchestra, Brisbane Symphony Orchestra, and all Australian ABC orchestras. She worked with a long list of outstanding conductors, including Maxim Shostakovich, Charles Dutoit, Gerard Schwarz, and Yoshikazu Fukumura.

A distinguished chamber musician, Duphil partnered with renowned artists including Pierre Fournier, Cho-Liang Lin, Jean-Pierre Rampal, Ruggiero Ricci, and Henryk Szerying.

Her recordings can be heard on the Polydor, Telefunken (Japan), Marco Polo, Avila, Naxos, and Electra (Canada) labels.

Duphil served on the faculty of the Hong Kong Academy for the Performing Arts before her appointment to the faculty at the Oberlin Conservatory of Music in 1992.