Biography
Emily Brebach joined the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra (ASO) as English horn and Oboe in the fall of 2012.
Ms. Brebach, a Philadelphia native, has performed with several orchestras throughout the United States, including the Boston Symphony Orchestra, the Minnesota Orchestra, the Kansas City Symphony, and the Houston Symphony. Prior to joining the ASO, Ms. Brebach held the position of English horn and oboe with the Sarasota Orchestra.
Ms. Brebach holds degrees from Oberlin Conservatory and Rice University's Shepherd School of Music and studied with Louis Rosenblatt, James Caldwell, Robert Atherholt, and Robert Walters.
She is a founding member of The Merian Ensemble, a quintet of Atlanta Symphony women musicians whose mission is to perform and commission works by women composers. Both with the Merian Ensemble and as a soloist, Ms. Brebach has been featured multiple times on the NPR program Performance Today.
She is an Artist Affiliate Instructor of Oboe and Emory University, a faculty member of the Atlanta Symphony's Talent Development Program and maintains an active private studio in her home. Ms. Brebach has also given masterclasses and reed making seminars at schools such as the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music, Florida State University, the North Carolina School for the Arts, and Columbus State University.
She spends her summers in residence at the Brevard Music Center in Brevard, NC, as English horn and oboe as well as artist faculty, and as English horn at the Grand Teton Music Festival in Jackson Hole, WY.
Q & A
What year did you join the ASO?
2012
Why did you choose your instrument?
My father plays the flute and my mother plays the piano, and they really wanted me to play the oboe so we could play family Baroque trio sonatas (I definitely had a unique upbringing...). In 4th grade, they sent me to school with a note for the band director requesting that I try the oboe. When I tried the oboe, the band director seemed to think I had a knack for it, and the rest is history!
What do you do in your free time outside of work?
I love cooking, reading about food, researching recipes, and going to unique grocery stores and specialty food shops to browse for ingredients. I also spend a fair amount of time keeping myself in shape so that I can have a long and pain-free career. Classical musicians do a lot of repetitive motions and as a wind player, I also need to have good lung capacity.
Earliest musical hero?
Richard Woodhams, now-retired principal oboe of the Philadelphia Orchestra.
What is your post-concert routine?
Sometimes it's a bit of bourbon backstage with colleagues, sometimes it's going straight home and hanging out with my husband and dog.