Ray Still, legendary CSO oboist and teacher remembered

Most oboe players are famous for being rather neurotic and even a bit crazy. The stereotype derives from all those long hours oboists spend making reeds and having to force air through an aperture no bigger than the eye of a medium-sized needle, all to produce a beautiful sound on a recalcitrant wind instrument.

Ray Still was famous for being the best of the best, one of the finest and longest-tenured orchestral oboe players of all time.

He played oboe in the Chicago Symphony Orchestra for an astonishing 40 years, 39 of them as principal oboe. He served with distinction under four CSO music directors, from Fritz Reiner to Daniel Barenboim, until his retirement in 1993. More