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Music

Theodore Baskin

born 1950 · oboist, professor

Detroit-born oboist, trained at Cass Tech and once a Detroit Symphony player, who has been principal oboe of the Montreal Symphony Orchestra since 1980.

Born

Detroit, Michigan
age 76
Detroit years
1950–1970s
Field
Music

01 / The Detroit story

The Detroit story

Baskin was born in Detroit in 1950 and studied the oboe at Cass Technical High School with Arno Mariotti, the Detroit Symphony's principal oboist, before going on to John de Lancie at the Curtis Institute in Philadelphia. He held posts in the Detroit Symphony Orchestra and in New Zealand's Auckland Symphonia before winning the principal oboe chair of the Montreal Symphony Orchestra in 1980. With the Montreal orchestra and Charles Dutoit he made more than seventy recordings for London/Decca, and he has recorded Vivaldi concertos with I Musici de Montréal. In 1989 he gave the world premiere of Alexander Raskatov's Concerto for Oboe and 16 Strings in Moscow, and in 1994 he premiered André Prévost's oboe concerto in Montreal. He taught at Indiana University from 2000 to 2002 and is an associate professor at McGill University's Schulich School of Music.

Highlights

  1. Studied oboe at Cass Tech with Arno Mariotti
  2. Played in the Detroit Symphony Orchestra early in his career
  3. Principal oboe of the Montreal Symphony Orchestra since 1980
  4. More than seventy Decca recordings with Charles Dutoit

02 / Their Detroit places

Their Detroit places 1

Where they lived, worked, performed and liked to hang out. Closed and demolished places stay here too, because they are part of the city's history.

  1. Studied here · 1960s

    Cass Technical High School

    Demolished · 1922–2011

    Baskin studied oboe here with Arno Mariotti; the 1922 building was demolished in 2011.

    Second Ave at Grand River Ave, Detroit, MI 48201Map ↗Place page →Source ↗