Robert Bloom (b. May 3, 1908, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania) studied at the Curtis Institute of Music, and was an oboe student of Marcel Tabuteau. Early in his career he held the positions of assistant first oboe and solo English horn with the Philadelphia Orchestra and principal oboe with the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra. He became solo oboist of the NBC Symphony under Toscanini for six years, and was oboist with the Bach Aria Group for 47 years. He has taught at the Philadelphia College of Performing Arts, the New College Music Festival, and the Juilliard School, and is perhaps best known to double reed players for his many years of teaching at the Yale University School of Music, at which institution he now holds the position of Professor Emeritus of Music.
Sol Schoenbach (b. March 15, 1915, New York, New York)
studied at the Juilliard School of Music, and received the Bachelor
of Arts degree from New York University in 1939. He has been awarded
honorary Doctorates of Music from the Curtis Institute of Music,
Temple University and the New School of Music. He was staff bassoonist
of the CBS Orchestra from 1932 to 1937; he founded the Philadelphia
Woodwind Quintet in 1950, and was a member of that ensemble until
1966. He was principal bassoonist of the Philadelphia Orchestra
from 1937 until 1957, apart from two years in World War 11. He
has served on the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts, and was Executive
Director of the Settlement Music School. He has taught at the
Curtis Institute of Music, the Banff Festival of the Arts, the
Berkshire Music Center, and the New England Conservatory of Music.
He is immediate Past President of the International Double Reed
Society.