Hilary Philipp, Principal Oboist

Hilary Philipp is principal oboist of the Butler County Symphony, a position she has held for over ten years. Ms. Philipp currently serves as principal oboist of Resonance Works Pittsburgh as well as English hornist of the Tri-Cities Opera Orchestra in Binghamton, NY. Hilary has performed extensively throughout the United States and abroad. She has played with the Pittsburgh and Erie Chamber Orchestras, the Buffalo and Erie Philharmonics, and the New World, Hartford, Johnstown, Allentown, Westmoreland and Glens Falls Symphony Orchestras. She has also performed with internationally acclaimed artists such as Andrea Bocelli, Arturo Sandoval and Mannheim Steamroller. She spent two summers at the Pierre Monteux school in Maine, and performed at the Festival de Inverno de Campos do Jordão in Brazil and the Bermuda Arts Festival on several occasions. Also an avid chamber musician, Hilary has played in many woodwind quintets and trios, including the Pittsburgh based woodwind quintet Windfluence.

Hilary started her musical career on violin at age three, choosing the oboe in the fourth grade when joining her school band. She was fond of a “three little pigs” live action movie starring Billy Crystal as the artistic, oboe playing third pig and was sold. The oboe was, of course, not an option, but she was determined. At eight years old Hilary began studying oboe with Cheryl Bishkoff in New York and the rest is history.

Musician Spotlight: Hilary Philipp
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Cheryl remains a mentor and teacher to this day. By high school she had moved to Erie, PA, where she joined the Erie Jr. Philharmonic and the Cleveland Orchestra Youth Orchestra. She studied with Mark DuBois and Danna Sundet and played her first concerto with the Erie Jr. Philharmonic in 2000. Hilary attended the Longy School of Music in Cambridge, MA – a school founded by influential French oboist George Longy – where she studied with Wayne Rapier of the Boston Symphony. From there, she earned her Masters degree in oboe performance from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst where she accepted a graduate assistantship and studied with Fred Cohen. While there, Hilary won the University’s concerto competition twice and the 2008 Boston Woodwind Society Ralph Gomberg Oboe Merit Award.

A sought after oboe teacher, Ms. Philipp has been on the faculty of Allegheny College, Mercyhurst University, and Grove City College. Her middle and high school students have won state competitions and gone on to prestigious music schools. Passionate about education, Hilary spent two years in AmeriCorps (the domestic version of the Peace Corps) working in the Erie, PA city school district. You may even have seen Hilary introducing WQLN audiences to the oboe in “Musical Minutes” PSAs.

Hilary currently lives in Pittsburgh with her husband and two children. When not making oboe reeds, she likes to make other things; she likes to paint, sew, knit and crochet.