Chris Blake
When did you start playing the oboe?
My father played the oboe and when I was 11 years old, I put my name down in school to play the flute or clarinet. I was particularly interested in the flute but the flute teacher at the time was famous for his tantrums and had even been known to throw flutes around the music room! So I then decided that I wanted to try the oboe and have been playing ever since.
Most inspiring composer?
All composers have written equally fantastic pieces but among the most inspiring for me are; Bach, Mozart, Brahms, Tchaikovsky, Shostakovich and Stravinsky.
Who were your most important mentors?
There are quite a lot that include my teachers and the principal oboists of the Vienna and Berlin Philharmonic.
What’s the best thing about your instrument?
Definitely not giving the A!! For me, the oboe gets some of the most beautiful melodic lines of all the instruments in the orchestra.
What’s the most difficult aspect of the oboe?
The most difficult aspect of the oboe has nothing to do with playing it. An oboist has to make his own reeds and this can be time consuming and sometimes frustrating.
What’s in your cd player right now?
It’s nothing to do with music actually, it is a teach-yourself French cd because I want to catch up on my wife who can speak French extremely well.
Most memorable moments with the UO?
There have been so many memories, but amoung the best was having the opportunity to perform as we did in the Concertsebouw in Amsterdam and I thought the orchestra played fantastically!
Do you ever get nervous before a concert?
Yes I do and I think that we all need nerves before a concert or else we would not be able to play properly.
What do you like to do outside of work?
I love looking after my two children and working in my sub-tropical garden.