Principal
Alex Klein is one of the world’s leading oboists. He began his musical studies in his native Brazil at the age of 9 and subsequently received his music degrees at the Oberlin Conservatory of Music under the tutelage of James Caldwell. Klein received a Grammy Award in 2002 for his recording of the Richard Strauss Oboe Concerto with Daniel Barenboim and the Chicago Symphony, where he served as Principal Oboe and was later given “Emeritus” status by Riccardo Muti.
Klein won the First Prizes in the International Oboe Competitions of Geneva, New York, Fernand Gillet and Piracicaba, with additional prizes in Tokyo and Prague. He left the Chicago Symphony Orchestra due to complications arising from Musician’s Focal Dystonia, but relearned how to play his instrument and again auditioned successfully for his former post in 2016, before assuming the Principal Oboe chair with the Calgary Philharmonic in Canada.
Klein is also on the faculty of DePaul University in Chicago and the Aspen Music School, serves as Principal Oboe of the Aspen Chamber Symphony and performs regularly with the Chicago Pro-Music Reed Trio. After leaving the Chicago Symphony he devoted his career to the advancement of talented young players from Latin America and from disadvantaged communities. Klein founded and is Artistic Director of FEMUSC – Santa Catarina Music Festival, as well as founding and leading the award-winning, El Sistema-inspired PRIMA – Program of Social Inclusion through Music and the Arts. He has recorded a wide variety of works for solo oboe for Cedille Records, from baroque concertos by Antonio Vivaldi to modern works by Yano and Sydor written specifically for him.
