REBECCA DAWKINS
Principal Oboe
Rebecca was born in Oakham, Rutland where she began studying the oboe with Dick Smart at the age of 8. She performed with the advanced wind bands and orchestras of Leicestershire Arts and enjoyed tours to Austria and Germany. Rebecca also enjoys singing and performed with her girls youth choir the ‘Chanterelles’ at the Linz, Austria Choir Olympics and at the final of Sainsbury’s Choir of the Year at the Royal Albert Hall.
Rebecca graduated from the Birmingham Conservatoire in 2005 with a Bachelor of Music Degree with Honours. Here she studied with Jenni Phillips, George Caird, Gail Hennessy and Anna Cooper and performed in master classes with Christopher Cowie, Gordon Hunt, Jonathon Small and Nicholas Daniel. In 2005 she was awarded the Anthony Miller Oboe Prize.
During her time at the Conservatoire, Rebecca was fortunate to be given the opportunity to go on the ERASMUS exchange programme to Weimar, Germany where she studied with Axel Schmidt for a term.
Rebecca currently teaches part time as an oboe specialist at Solihull School. As well as her teaching commitments she also enjoys a busy freelancing career playing for many different groups including Fordante, Queens Park Sinfonia, Central England Camerata and the Lincolnshire Chamber Orchestra. Some of the highlights of her career so far have been playing alongside the popular male vocal group ‘Il Divo’ at the Henley Festival, performing with Orchestra of the Swan and at Longborough Festival Opera. In 2017 she was appointed to The Kidderminster Festival Orchestra, now The Sinfonia Stellaris, as the Principal Oboe.