Harris Orem, Third Oboe & English Horn
Harris originally intended to become a doctor, earning a degree in chemistry from Portland State University, and then went to graduate school at the University of Illinois. While in Chicago, he studied oboe with Ray Still, then Principal Oboe of the Chicago Symphony, and English Horn with Grover Schiltz, also of the Chicago Symphony. Encouraged by his teachers, Harris decided to give up science in favor of music and accepted a Second Oboe/English Horn position with the Oregon Symphony. With the expansion of the oboe section, he switched to Third Oboe/English Horn to allow more time for the English Horn. He has played 30 seasons with the Orchestra.
Harris has studied baroque oboe and baroque performance practice in Belgium, Holland, and Norway and played several seasons with the baroque ensemble Portland Pro Musica. He has been a member of the Woodwind Conspiracy, the Portland Opera Orchestra, and the West Coast Chamber Orchestra. He teaches privately out of his home.
Harris is very interested in Medieval History and is currently learning Latin and dabbles in Middle High German in order to read sources in their original languages. He is fluent in German, he and his German wife, Silke, raise their children bilingually.
For more about this musician, click here.