Monday 1 December 2025
1pm
Silk Street Lecture Recital Room

Philippe Tondre has secured a place among the finest oboists of his generation. His music-making is packed with emotional sensitivity and stunning virtuosity. His intense tone radiates a wonderfully songlike aura, and the power and elegance of his playing connects with all audiences. “Master of the oboe, so subtle, revealing the tenderest of shades, with wonderful breathtaking melodic spans… here the oboe reaches celestial heights” (Bonner General Anzeiger). 

Philippe Tondre was born in 1989 and began playing the oboe with Yves Cautres in his home town Mulhouse, France before studying at the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique in Paris with David Walter. His professional career began during his studies, at the age of 18, when he was nominated Principal Oboe of the SWR Symphony Orchestra Stuttgart, Germany. He was also invited as Principal Oboe in leading orchestras including the Royal Concertgebouw Amsterdam, the Budapest Festival Orchestra and the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra. In 2010 Seiji Ozawa chose him for the position of Principal Oboe in the Saito Kinen Festival Orchestra, now known as the Seiji Ozawa Festival Orchestra.

His total dedication to the oboe and his constant desire to become a better musician led to five intense, challenging years of international competitions. Undoubtedly one of his greatest moments was winning the ARD International Music Competition Munich in 2011, and, on receiving the prestigious Beethoven Ring – a musical honour awarded by the Beethoven Fest in Bonn, he joined the prestigious list of recipients including Julia Fischer, Lisa Batiashvili and Gustavo Dudamel. The prizes and distinctions he won opened the door to his solo career which has taken him around the world playing with the most prestigious orchestras and many eminent conductors. He made his Debut in the Berlin Philharmonie in June 2013 playing Bohuslav Martinu’s Concerto for Oboe accompanied by the German Symphony Orchestra. In 2016 he was appointed Principal Oboe of the Gewandhaus Orchester Leipzig.

Philippe Tondre is a passionate chamber musician and holds the position of Principal Oboe in the Mito Chamber Orchestra Japan, founded by Seiji Ozawa. In 2020 he was nominated Principal Oboe in the Chamber Orchestra of Europe and that same year he won the coveted position of Principal Oboe in the Philadelphia Orchestra with musical director Yannick Nézét-Séguin. 2022 marked his debut as a soloist at Carnegie Hall New York with the Orchestra of St. Luke’s and his nomination as professor at the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia.

Philippe Tondre leads the research and development oboe department of the french wind instrument maker Buffet Crampon in Paris and plays on a “Légende” oboe.