Education
- MA, University of Toronto
- MMus, University of Toronto
Biography
Gillian Howard enjoys a varied career on both modern and period instruments. She has played oboe and English horn with ensembles such as the Windsor Symphony, Hamilton Philharmonic, Sinfonia Toronto, Kingston Symphony, Esprit Orchestra, Toronto Mozart Players, and Talisker Players, and appeared in the Elora Festival and Festival of the Sound. As a chamber musician, she has recorded, arranged, and performed new and traditional music for wind quintet. On Baroque oboe, she has performed with Tafelmusik, Aradia Ensemble, Theatre of Early Music, Montreal Baroque, Toronto Masque Theatre, and Nota Bene Baroque Players.
Gillian holds Masters degrees in Performance and in Musicology from the University of Toronto. She teaches oboe at York University and oboe pedagogy at the University of Toronto, and has taught beginner and advanced oboists in arts programs in the TDSB for over twenty years. She has been Principal Oboe of the Scarborough Philharmonic Orchestra since 2010, and is delighted to have participated in the SPO’s acclaimed recording of new works for wind ensemble by Canadian composers, A Canadian Panorama. Gillian also sings sacred music, old and new, with Schola Magdalena.