About the Blog

Welcome to Recovering Oboist!

This blog was launched in July 2012, but the idea for it came to me more than two years ago. 

I was struggling to juggle my full-time job at the Curtis Institute, grow my freelance oboe career, and maintain some semblance of a twenty-something's social life.

Over many lonely, late nights at the reed desk, burn-out imminent, asking myself why I was trying to do so much, it occurred to me that I'm not unique. Perhaps, even, my life isn't as busy or as challenging as I thought.

Plenty of musicians work full-time day jobs outside of music. Plenty of people outside the music world balance two or three jobs. Work-life balance is increasingly challenging for Americans as the economy remains sluggish. Those who remain employed are asked to do more for less, and the ever-present internet and social media at home and work continue to weaken the boundaries between the two.

Nonetheless, I believe that the oboe -- and in particular, reed-making -- is a constant obstacle on its own, day jobs and social lives notwithstanding. So, I sought people like me -- with full-time jobs outside of teaching and performing in addition to their music careers -- to find out how they balance their demanding double lives.

I started interviewing oboists and bassoonists for the article "Cut Time," featured in the Summer 2012 issue of The Double Reed, the quarterly journal of the International Double Reed Society. (pictured at left; photo by Emily Butler) With this blog, I will branch out beyond the double reed world.

You can learn more about how the project started here and here.

Thanks for reading!