After a two-year hiatus due to the COVID pandemic, the Oboe Intensive at Western University will return online! Two-hour sessions via Zoom will be held throughout June on Saturdays and Thursdays, 10 am – 12 noon.
- Saturday masterclasses (June 4, 11, 18, 25) highlight technique, embouchure, tone, pitch, articulation, vibrato and phrasing, and orchestral excerpts.
- Thursday classes (June 9, 16, 23, 30) discuss practice techniques, oboe maintenance, reed making and performance anxiety.
16 hours of masterclasses and tutorials are designed to improve your oboe performance skills! Performers and auditors attend free of charge! All you have to do is register.
Oboe Intensive 2022 – Instructors
Shelley Heron, Monica Fosnaugh, Faith Scholfield
Registration deadline for performers – May 14, 2022
Registration deadline for auditors – May 21, 2022
Registration information
Oboists of all skill levels and ages are welcome to apply for one of the 15 performer spots. Oboists wishing to perform in one of the sessions should email Shelley Heron, sheron2@uwo.ca, and include a link to a 2-minute video by May 14. Your video should demonstrate an aspect of your oboe playing that you would like to improve. Please include your name, whether you are a student, amateur, professional, or a teacher, and a short description of the issue you would like help with. Selected performers will be assigned to a specific session addressing their issues.
Performers must have a reliable internet connection with a minimum upload speed of at least 10 Mbps. Please check your internet speed https://www.speedtest.net.
Auditors are invited to attend all classes, participate in the chat, and ask questions — register by emailing Shelley Heron sheron2@uwo.ca. Please include your name and whether you are a student, amateur, professional, or teacher.
Best music Zoom settings for performers and auditors
- Click on the Settings icon. That will open the settings panel. Select ‘Audio’ – the third option down in the list on the left-hand side.
- Under the “Microphone” heading, uncheck “automatically adjust microphone volume”.
- Under “Suppress Background Noise” set it to LOW.
- Under the “Music and Professional Audio” heading, check “Show In-Meeting Option to Turn On Original Sound.”
- If you are using headphones (recommended if you can, but not mandatory) make sure “Disable echo cancellation” is checked. If you are NOT using headphones, DON’T check it.
- If you have fairly fast internet, check “High fidelity music mode”. If you don’t have fast internet, leave it unchecked.
- Click the “Advanced” button at the bottom of the menu. Once you’re in the advanced section of the audio settings, make sure both options are set to AUTO.
- Once you are in the meeting, make sure you have turned ON the Original Sound button at the top left of the screen. It should say “Original Sound: On.” (For older versions of Zoom “Original Sound: turn off” means that Original Sound is on.)
More about Oboes at Western University