Bobby Nunes has served as the Principal Oboe of the Sarasota Orchestra since 2023, and was recently named Principal Oboe of the Des Moine Metro Opera. Prior to joining the Sarasota Orchestra, he spent one season as Acting Principal Oboe of the Tucson Symphony Orchestra. Bobby has performed with many orchestras across the United States, including the Philadelphia Orchestra and the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, and was a member of the Carnegie Hall National Youth Orchestra (NYO-USA) for two consecutive years, touring China in 2015 under the baton of Charles Dutoit, and Europe in 2016 under Christoph Eschenbach and Valery Gergiev.

 

As a soloist, Bobby was the winner of the 2018 Juilliard Oboe Concerto Competition, resulting in his performance of the Strauss Oboe Concerto with the Juilliard Orchestra with Sir Mark Elder conducting. He was also the winner of the 2021 Aspen Music Festival concerto competition.

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A native of Phoenix, Arizona, Bobby began his oboe studies with Martin Schuring and served as Principal Oboe of the Phoenix Youth Symphony for three years. He went on to earn a bachelor’s degree from The Juilliard School where he studied with Elaine Douvas, and completed his professional studies certificate at The Colburn School in Los Angeles as a student of Eugene Izotov. Bobby has been a member of the New York String Orchestra Seminar in Carnegie Hall, and was awarded fellowships for study at the Tanglewood Music Center, Music Academy of the West, and Aspen Music Festival.