Oboe Studio


Group photo of students holding their oboes with Professor Marco

Dr. Margaret Marco is the Professor of Oboe at the KU School of Music and teaches all undergraduate and graduate lessons, oboe reed classes, oboe pedagogy, graduate seminars, chamber music, and other classes. Students in the oboe studio at KU are inspired to raise their oboe playing to their fullest potential in a nurturing, supportive, yet challenging environment.

There are lots of good reasons to pursue a degree in oboe at the University of Kansas.

Dr. Marco's Teaching Philosophy

Dr. Marco's teaching is firmly rooted in building and maintaining strong fundamentals of oboe playing. Through scales and etudes, she leads students toward mastery of tone, technique, articulation, expression, and phrasing. Through careful selection of repertoire, she enables students to correctly interpret music from the eighteenth century to the present. Her personal strength as a performer, infusing emotion into her playing, is something she shares with her students. Dr. Marco encourages her students to seek their own expressive voices and to reflect their personalities in their performances.

Reed Class

Weekly reed classes help you hone your reed-making skills quickly so you can be a self-reliant reed maker!

Guest Artists

Many leading oboists visit campus to present master classes and perform recitals including Peter Cooper, Alex Klein, Erin Hannigan, Nancy Ambrose King, Toyin Spellman-Diaz, Linda Strommen, Jaren Atherholt, and many others.

Studio Class

Studio Class is a performance-based class where students have a chance to perform solo repertoire and excerpts for each other and receive constructive feedback. We cover a wide variety of topics including developing effective practice habits, overcoming performance anxiety, orchestral excerpts, the American oboe school, oboe ensemble music, and much more.

International Opportunities

Oboe students have traveled to Milan, Italy; Eutin, Germany, and Quito, Ecuador to perform with our international musical partner institutions.

Check out all KU has to offer

Receiving a music degree from KU means that you will come in contact with world-renowned music professors and perform in top-rated ensembles that will prepare you for a career in music performance, education, or therapy. 

Our Wind Ensemble has performed in Carnegie Hall and the John F. Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., recorded multiple CDs for Naxos and Klavier, and received glowing praise from the New York Times.

Our Symphony Orchestra performs the orchestral masterworks in 6 full concerts each year. KUSO has an exchange program with Eutiner Festspiel in Germany and the Giuseppe Verdi Conservatory of Music in Milan giving our students the opportunity to participate in international experiences.

Our Chamber Music ensembles have won awards at major competitions.

Why KU?

As a music major at KU, you can pursue a degree in music performance, music education, or music therapy. You can enhance your degree with a Music Enterprise Certificate. Considering a double major? The newly-designed BA in Music is a flexible degree that is designed to be paired with another degree outside of music. 

Excellence at the Undergraduate and Graduate levels

The School of Music seeks to nurture the art of music through creation, performance, scholarly inquiry, and entrepreneurship at both the Undergraduate and Graduate levels. Students receive outstanding teaching and mentorship and can participate in high-level performance and research, including opportunities to perform internationally. We are a supportive community of students and faculty and a well-established presence nationally and internationally.  Our faculty excel at preparing students for the real world while supporting them throughout their time at KU. The School is a major contributor to the arts community and enjoys excellent facilities in Murphy Hall and the Lied Center of Kansas.