Erik Behr
Instrument: Oboe
With the RPO since: 2007
Favorite time of year in Rochester: summertime, outdoor activities: BBQ, Baseball, sitting on my porch
Hometown: Cape Town, South Africa
Drink you're most likely to order at Java's: Rooibos Tea
First music-related memory? I have a comforting memory enjoying Sunday dinners with my family in Cape Town around a large oak table where we would have a pot roast and listen to a LP. Long after those dinners I realized that those memories were of Verdi and other opera composers.
Influential teachers: Bob Atherholt, Richard Woodhams, Martin Schuring
What are your other "hidden" talents? I would NOT say I am talented but I love playing golf.
What other orchestras have you performed with? Houston Grand Opera and Ballet, Houston Symphony, Atlanta Symphony, Seattle Symphony, Slovenian Radio, Cape Town Symphony, Haddonfield Symphony
Oddest RPO concert memory ... My G# key fell off my instrument whilst playing a solo that revolved around that particular key and thanks to my colleagues I could use another oboe and nobody missed a step while I switched and tried to keep my wheel on the wagon!
Biography
Erik Behr was appointed Principal Oboe of the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra in May 2007. Prior to joining the RPO, he was Principal Oboe of the Houston Grand Opera and Houston Ballet. Behr has performed as guest principal with the Atlanta Symphony, as a guest with the Seattle and Houston symphonies. During the summer, he performs alongside his wife, Juliana Athayde, at Sun Valley Summer Symphony and Mainly Mozart Festival. He also has performed at the Spoleto and Casals Festivals, with the Chamber Orchestra of Philadelphia, and in the world’s great concert halls as part of the Jeunesses Musicales World Orchestra under Kurt Masur.
In addition to concerto appearances with Houston Ballet and the RPO, Behr was the solo English horn in the recording of Honegger’s Concerto da Camera with the RTV Slovenia Orchestra, solo oboe in Mozart’s Sinfonia Concertante on tour with the Irish National Youth Orchestra, and a member of the World Wind Quintet performing at the Edinburgh International Festival, Kilkenny Festival, and Maribor Festival.
Behr was on the oboe faculty at the University of Houston prior to joining the RPO and is presently Adjunct Professor at Roberts Wesleyan College. He has taught master classes and coached chamber music and orchestral courses throughout Europe and America. He received his bachelor’s degree (cum laude) at Arizona State University, his master’s from Temple University, and is currently completing his doctorate from Rice University. His principal teachers have been Robert Atherholt, Richard Woodhams, and Martin Schuring.
