Ryan Zwahlen, oboe

In the summer of 2014, Ryan relocated from Southern California to the San Francisco Bay Area. Since arriving in Northern California, he’s quickly become a fixture in the music scene. Ryan currently holds the positions of Second Oboe of the Santa Cruz Symphony and the Pacific Chamber Orchestra. He is also a member of One Found Sound playing oboe and English horn. Ryan performs regularly with Opera San Jose, San Jose Chamber Orchestra, Santa Cruz Ballet, and Symphony Silicon Valley. He’s also performed with the New Century Chamber Orchestra, Oakland Symphony, Marin Symphony, Santa Rosa Symphony, California Symphony, Merced Symphony, among others. While in Southern California, he performed with the Los Angeles Philharmonic multiple times, and recorded and performed with the San Diego Symphony. Ryan was Principal Oboe of Orchestra Nova in San Diego and Co-Principal Oboe of the California Chamber Orchestra in Temecula. He’s had concerto appearances with the Idyllwild Arts Academy Orchestra, Les Sauvages Americains, and Definiens.

An avid chamber musician, Ryan was a founding member of the Vientos Trio (winner of the 2011 Beverly Hills Auditions), West Coast Wind Quintet (Finalist in the 2013 San Diego Chamber Music Competition), Definiens, Santa Monica Symphony Wind Quintet, and many more. Ryan’s devotion to music education was demonstrated while serving as the Music Department Chair of the Idyllwild Arts Academy from 2010-2014. He also taught through the Idyllwild Arts Summer Programs, ChamberFest and Songwriting Workshop. Currently, Ryan is the Director of MidPeninsula Music Academy in Redwood City, is the oboe faculty for Young Musicians and Artists, a summer arts camp in Oregon, and is the Applied Oboe Faculty at West Valley College. Ryan is also one half of Left Coast Oboes, along with his friend and colleague, Adrienne Malley. LCO offers a Summer Oboe Workshop and Oboe Days during the year.

Ryan studied oboe with Nancy Ambrose King, Martin Shuring, and Marion Kuszyk. Additional studies/masterclasses with Russ DeLuna, Laura Griffiths, Rebecca Henderson, Kathryn Greenbank, Diana Doherty, Fred Korman, and Bert Lucarelli.