Washington McClain, a member of leading early music ensembles and a noted authority on the oboe, has died suddenly, Indiana University reports.
Dr McClain played euphonium in his high school band program at West Monroe High School, in northeast Louisiana. He did not become acquainted with the oboe until his undergraduate studies at Northeast Louisiana University (1978-1982), probably because it was a part of the curriculum towards a music education degree, with the end goal of becoming a school band director. His first (modern) oboe teacher was G. Lowry Riggins. He also studied musicology while at the University of Louisiana at Monroe.
. . . and graduated from Northwestern with a Master’s in Performance (oboe) in 1983. Wash was a gentleman, beloved by anyone who ever worked with him.
He was a noted member of the Arion Baroque Orchestra in Montreal. He will be missed.
Sad news….
How incredibly sad! I so enjoyed the one week we played together. What a lovely man, beautiful musician and gorgeous nutty sound. Very glad to have known him briefly…
Nice tribute here–less than two minutes–from Arion Baroque:
and a third video, a couple of minutes of Telemann with Le Parnasse Musical:
Norman, Sorry, I need to correct my caption for this third video. It is also with Jeanne Lamon’s Toronto band Tafelmusik. Music is Telemann, “La Bourse” suite in Bb major.