1956: Won a scholarship to attend summer high school music program at Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music
1958: Received a full scholarship to participate at the Brevard Music Center and played first oboe in the Transylvania Symphony; entered Davidson College as an English major
1959: Joined the Charlotte Symphony as 2nd oboe; met John Mack and participated in the fellowship program at Tanglewood with Conductor Charles Dutoit
1962-63: Won a post-graduate Fulbright Grant for study in Germany; met Marcel Tabuteau and studied with him for five weeks in France
1964-66: Entered Princeton University’s Woodrow Wilson School on full scholarship; performed in the Princeton Chamber Orchestra with Conductor Nicholas Harsanyi
1966: Proposed and funded a scholarship program enabling Central American musicians to attend the Brevard Music Center, meet President Lynden Johnson in the White House Rose Garden and perform a concert for broadcast at the Pan American Union in Washington, D.C.
1967: Selected by Music Director Robert Shaw to become Principal Oboe of the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra
1969: Participated in the Marlboro Music Festival, performing and recording with Pablo Casals; played first oboe in the Peninsula Music Festival, Fish Creek, WI with Conductor Thor Johnson (three years)
1970: Married violinist Mary Kay McQuilkin in First Presbyterian Church in Atlanta, wedding music supplied by Robert Shaw, John Mack, Seth McCoy, etc.
1972: Wrote and helped pass County/City legislation establishing free concerts for families in Atlanta; performed the Handel G Minor Concerto with the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra conducted by Robert Shaw
1973: Named Assistant Professor of Oboe at the University of Maryland; assigned special fundraising duties by Dean Eugene Troth
1974: Joined the Clarion Wind Quintet and the faculty of the North Carolina School of the Arts in Winston-Salem, NC; began playing first oboe in the Piedmont Chamber Orchestra
1975: Joined the board of directors of the Winston Salem Symphony, overseeing educational concerts; produced “Oboe Day in North Carolina” with John Mack of the Cleveland Orchestra
1976: Established the John Mack Oboe Camp at WILDACRES in Little Switzerland, NC; negotiated involvement of North Carolina School of the Arts faculty in the Winston Salem Symphony; toured Spain with the Clarion Wind Quintet
1977: Headed the Moravian Music Festival in its selection of John Nelson as director; recorded Haydn Divertimenti and Nocturnes with Nicholas Harsanyi and the Piedmont Chamber Orchestra; won the New York Philharmonic Principal Oboe audition in December
1978: Performed Vivaldi D Minor Concerto with Zubin Mehta and the New York Philharmonic (NYP); joined Manhattan School of Music as Head of Oboe Studies (26 years)
1979: Performed Bach Double Concerto with Pinchas Zukerman and NYP; participated in the Grand Teton Music Festival (20 years)
1980: Joined the Board of Directors, Brevard Music Center (8 years)
1981: Began coordination of Area Committee Musicales for NYP Development Department (7 years)
1982: Performed Strauss Concerto with Zubin Mehta and NYP; published an article in Symphony entitled “Take Your Oboe Player to Lunch” urging musician advocacy in support of orchestras
1983: Received Honorary Doctor of Music Degree from Davidson College and produced a concert on campus conducted by Zubin Mehtawhich raised $400,000 for student scholarships; began Joseph Robinson Seminars at UNC-Greensboro and at Hidden Valley, California (3 years)
1984: Helped commission, then performed and recorded the Rochberg Concerto with Zubin Mehta and NYP; became President of the Grand Teton Orchestra Seminar (3 years) and joined the Board of Directors of the Grand Teton Music Festival (12 years); presented new Loree oboe to a musician in Bombay
1985: Performed Mozart Sinfonia Concertante on European tour with Zubin Mehta and NYP; arranged funding and academic opportunties in the US for oboists from Calcutta and Bangkok; created the “World Invitational Orchestra” for Zubin Mehta’s performance of Mahler’s Third Symphony at the Grand Teton Music Festival
1986: Performed Bach Double Concerto with Itzhak Perlman, Zubin Mehta and NYP; became chair of National Artistic Advisory Committee for Oberlin College (3 years); elected Trustee of Davidson College (3 years)
1987: Performed Haydn Concerto eight times with Zubin Mehta and NYP; performed Mozart Concerto five times on South American tour with Zubin Mehta and NYP; published pedagogical guide “Oboists, Exhale Before Playing” in Instrumentalist
1988: Undertook fund-raising campaign and planning for NYP’s first-ever two-week residency at the Grand Teton Music Festival in summer 1989; participated in formation of the American-Russian Youth Orchestra
1989: Played William Schuman’s “To Thee Old Cause” with Zubin Mehta and NYP; arranged “CBS Sunday Morning” television feature for NYP in Jackson Hole, WY; joined Board of Directors of Union Theological Seminary in NYC (4 years); was invited by Seiji Ozawa to join the Boston Symphony; produced “Oboe Spectacular”—a program of oboe concertos performed by my student, Keisuke Wakao, and myself in Suntory Hall in Tokyo
1990: Invited to become Dean of Oberlin Conservatory; was instrumental in establishing a Master of Orchestral Performance degree—the first of its kind in America—at Manhattan School: Departmental Chair (14 years)
1991: Performed Bach’s “Wedding Cantata” with Kurt Masur and NYP; established The Children’s Merry-Go-Round, Inc. to implement pianist Itamar Golan’s dream of building a carousel in Jerusalem; began week-long chamber music residencies for NYP principal players at The Homestead in Virginia (3 years); performed at the personal invitation of the Governor of North Carolina in a centennial concert in Raleigh
1992: Produced for Union Theological Seminary and performed in “Heroes of Conscience”—a program at Riverside Church commemorating the anti-Nazi martyrdom of Conductor Christoph Von Dohnanyi’s father and uncle which raised funds for an endowed Dietrich Bonhoeffer Chair of Theology at Union
1993: Won a New York Emmy as Executive Producer of the television version of “Heroes of Conscience”—honored for “Outstanding Performance Programming 1993”
1994: Appointed to the “Magic of Music” National Advisory Committee for Knight Foundation’s symphony orchestra initiative (3 years)
1995: Performed the Vaughan-Williams Concerto with Sir Andrew Davis and NYP; was named “Scholar of the Aspen Institute;” published “What I Learned in the Lenoir High School Band” in The Wilson Quarterly—an article reprinted many times in support of instrumental training in the schools
1996: Organized with Richard Woodhams “Two Orchestras, One Maestro” –a concert presenting the New York Philharmonic and The Philadelphia Orchestra on two halves of the same program conducted by Neeme Jarvi, called by The New York Times “a classic battle of the bands;” was opening night soloist for the North Carolina Symphony, performing Vaughan-Williams and Tison Street
1997: Created “Masters at Davidson” a week-long residency for major orchestra principal players and Sylvia McNair at Davidson College to benefit Plott Music Scholarships; became a charter member of The Board of Overseers of The Curtis Institute (2 years)
1998: Delivered the Commencement Address for music students at Appalachian University in Boone, NC; addressed the Association of North Carolina Orchestras at their annual convention; recorded “New York Legends” solo CD
1999: Invited Make-A-Wish cancer patient Johanna Johnson to perform in a concert of the NYP; became volunteer president of The Stamas Fund, an unprecedented charitable organization enabling orchestra members to benefit their most talented and neediest students (4 years)
2000: Performed Strauss Concerto with Kurt Masur and NYP; played a joint recital with student from Beijing to benefit the George Abernethy Scholarship Fund at Davidson College; published “Raising the Demand Curve for Symphony Orchestras” in Harmony, arguing that concerts performed in a competitive format will increase public interest in orchestras
2001: Commissioned Peter Schickele to write a double concerto for oboe and violin and performed the world premiere with Glenn Dicterow and the Brevard Music Center Orchestra; played first oboe in the Bellingham (WA) Festival of Music (ongoing)
2002: Joined the Bellingham (WA) Festival of Music Board of Directors (3 years)
2003: Produced a fund-raising concert called “Prelude to Piano,” involving Manny Ax and fifteen other professionals in joint performances with students in New Jersey, raising almost $100,000 for purchase of the high school’s new Steinway grand piano
2004: Inducted into the Caldwell County (NC) Hall of Honor; participated in an all-star chamber music series at Bay Chamber Concerts in Rockport, ME
2005: Performed the Strauss Oboe Concerto and both Brahms Serenades in concerts that were broadcast from the Bellingham Festival of Music on NPR's "Performance Today"; played final concert as Principal Oboe of the New York Philharmonic (Mahler's Fifth Symphony--reading from the same part used also as his last concert by Harold Gomberg and signed "March 8, 1977") in Berlin on September 13; and played concertos by Bach and Handel with the Duke University Symphony in October and the Mozart Oboe Quartet with the Guarneri Quartet at New York City's Metropolitan Museum of Art in November.
2006: Joined the faculty of the Music Department of Duke University as Artist in Residence; produced Mahler's "Resurrection" Symphony No. 2 as part of Easter week in celebration of the 75th anniversary of Riverside Church in New York City--also in tribute to conductor Neeme Jarvi; presided at "A Day in the Studio of Joseph Robinson" at Duke University that attracted 100 observers and participants
2008: Named Distinguished Visiting Professor of Oboe at Lynn University in Boca Raton, FL; presented the Woodwind Quintet of New York (WQNY) in a fundraiser for the music program of First Presbyterian Church in Durham, NC
2009: Produced “Two ‘Boes and a Band” with oboist Eric Barr and the Ciompi Quartet for a tour of Texas; began a series of master classes with Howarth Oboe sponsorship
2010: Performed in the Boulder Bach Festival; conducted master classes and soloed at Pepperdine University; appeared as soloist with the Bellingham Festival of Music (“The Flower Clock” by Jean Francaix---see Praise for review)
Copyright 2018 Joseph L. Robinson. All rights reserved.