Musician Spotlights - Lorin Groshong

The second oboe we’re celebrating this month is none other than Lorin Groshong! Check out more about Lorin below.

I grew up here in Ashland! I graduated from Ashland High in 1993 and went to Northwestern University for my undergraduate degree. I only studied music for a year at NU and ended up going into Environmental Science as a major. I played music in symphonies in the suburbs of Chicago and did a lot of chamber music there as well. This began many years of living as a scientist during the day and a musician on nights and weekends. I went on to get a graduate degree in Geography at the University of Oregon and, since then, I have worked as an aerial photographer, cartographer and geographic information specialist mainly in the National Park Service. Recently I have become more focused on music and have almost completed my Master’s in Oboe Performance through Southern Oregon University.

My 7th grade band instructor asked me to play the oboe because I had more music experience than most students my age (I started playing piano early in elementary school and had already played flute since the 4th grade). I instantly liked the fact that I was the only oboe in the band and I got my own music stand. The instrument itself was a seemingly impossible challenge (which, honestly, hasn’t really changed).

What ultimately made me keep pursuing the oboe was that the principal oboist from the Houston Symphony retired in Ashland just as I was starting high school and I got to study with him. His name was Raymond Weaver, and he has been a lifelong inspiration to me. He played principal oboe in the Rogue Valley Symphony after moving here and my flute teacher, Sherril Kannasto (Wood) was principal flute in RVS at the same time. I fondly remember getting to sit in between them at some symphony rehearsals when the youth symphony was invited to play with them.

My roots are here in the Rogue Valley and the symphony feels like a special family to me. I remember getting incredibly nervous when I got to play with the symphony as a student, but it was also the biggest thrill for me. I’ve watched the symphony evolve over time and I feel like I have evolved with it. We all have improved greatly and it is amazing to still be a part of the music and community.

I love the outdoors. I always want to be hiking, camping or swimming in mountain lakes. When I can’t get out, I like to read or listen to audiobooks and I’m always looking for good science fiction movies to watch.

My favorite job was spending summers snorkeling the entire length of one stream at Crater Lake National Park and identifying and counting all of the fish in it. This special stream is home to one of the last robust populations of native Bull Trout in the western U.S. I still go visit that stream every summer, just for fun.