UI oboist wins international competition

UI music professor Nancy Ambrose King took top honors in the third New York
International Competition for Solo Oboists June 17 in New York.

Sponsored by Oboe International, an organization that promotes public
awareness of the oboe as a solo instrument, the competition is the only one
of its kind open to professional oboists.

King was one of 12 oboists invited to compete in preliminary rounds of the
competition, held June 14 and 15 at Carnegie Hall, and one of three
selected to compete in the finals at Lincoln Center.

As first-prize winner, King received $10,000 plus her choice of performing
solo in a Carnegie Hall concert or of recording a compact disc.

King, who joined the UI School of Music faculty in 1994, is principal
oboist with the Sinfonia da Camera and the Champaign-Urbana Symphony. She
has performed with the Boston Symphony, Los Angeles Philharmonic and
Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra and served as principal oboe of the
Heidelberg Opera Orchestra in Germany. Before coming to the UI, King held
faculty appointments at Ithaca College, Duquesne University and the
National Music Camp in Interlochen, Mich.