Laila Storch
Laila Storch was an American oboist.
Biography
She was the first woman oboist to graduate from the Curtis Institute in Philadelphia, where she studied with Marcel Tabuteau.Career
Storch was the principal oboist for the Houston Symphony Orchestra, Carmel [Bach Festival], the Bethlehem Bach Festival, Marlboro Music Festival, and the Casals Festivals. Additionally, she played with the National Symphony Orchestra, the Kansas City Philharmonic, and the Puerto [Rico Symphony Orchestra]. She was professor of oboe at the Conservatory of Music of Puerto Rico, for many years at the University of Washington and guest professor at Indiana University as well as the Central Conservatory of Music in Beijing, China. She was one of the longest serving members of the Soni Ventorum Wind Quintet.Storch published a biography of her mentor Marcel Tabuteau, longtime Curtis Institute faculty member and world-renowned solo oboist of the Philadelphia Orchestra, titled How Do You Expect to Play the Oboe If You Can’t Peel a Mushroom?.
Storch died on Orcas Island, Washington, on December 2, 2022, aged 101.
[File:Beethoven Prometheus Creatures Op. 43 No. 14 - Solo della signora Cassentini.oga|thumb|center|570px|Beethoven's Prometheus Creatures Op. 43. No. 14: Solo della signora Casentini. Oboe: L. Storch. Basset horn: William [McColl (clarinetist)|William McColl]. Piano: Anita Cummings. Meany Theatre, 21 April 1986.]