Honorary Members

Elaine Douvas (1952)

Elaine Douvas has been Principal Oboe of the Metropolitan Opera for 46 years. She has trained oboists at the Juilliard School since 1982 and is always trying to answer the question, “What constitutes a good, true education in music?” She believes in detailed preparation, studying from source material, context awareness, and learning style by comparative listening. Since 1997 she has been an artist/faculty member of the Aspen Music Festival and School, where she campaigns to keep the festival large, so more young musicians can have a year-round educational experience. During the pandemic, she created the Hidden Valley Festival of Winds in Carmel Valley, California, a side-by-side chamber music intensive for eighteen outstanding wind players and an all-star faculty. The festival is now in its third season.

Ms. Douvas has played in hundreds of broadcasts, recordings, and concerts with the Met, including the Strauss Oboe Concerto in Carnegie Hall with James Levine conducting. In 2017, she served as Jury Chairman for the ARD International Oboe Competition in Munich. In the 2021–22 season she soloed with the Bilbao Symphony in Spain, performing Frank Martin’s Three Dances for oboe, harp, and strings. Douvas is a founder and frequent conductor of the Juilliard Wind Orchestra and has chaired the woodwind department at Juilliard since 1997. She trained at the Cleveland Institute of Music with John Mack and at the Interlochen Arts Academy. Her first job was Principal Oboe of the Atlanta Symphony at the age of 21.

For 25 of her adult years, Ms. Douvas devoted her spare time to figure skating, and passed eleven U.S. Figure Skating Association (USFSA) tests. She enjoys attending concerts and theater plays with her husband, Robert Sirinek. Their two daughters work as a doctor and a nurse practitioner. Her favorite opera is Lohengrin.

Ryohei Nakagawa (1935)

Ryohei Nakagawa was born in Kyoto, Japan in 1935, and received a Bachelor of Music degree from the Tokyo University of Arts. He then studied at Yale University where he earned his master’s degree. Nakagawa was the Principal Bassoon of Stokowski's American Symphony Orchestra in New York City in the mid-1960s. He was later Principal Bassoon of the New York City Opera orchestra. Nakagawa was appointed Principal Bassoon of the San Francisco Symphony by Seiji Ozawa for the 1972–3 season.

Upon returning to Japan in 1975, Nakagawa remained active as a pedagogue and performer. He taught at some of the most prestigious schools of music, namely Tokyo University of the Arts, Toho Gakuen School of Music, and Aichi Prefectural University of Fine Arts and Music. He also served as a bassoonist for the Tokyo Metropolitan Symphony Orchestra and the New Japan Philharmonic.

Maxine Shimer (1914–1995)

Maxine Shimer, née Woods (1914–95) was one of the first women to become a professional bassoonist. Her "first woman to" list also includes being one of the first women to study the bassoon at Juilliard in 1934. While simultaneously studying music in New York City, she also performed with the Toronto Symphony, where she holds the title of being the first woman in the bassoon section, and in the woodwind section. A year later, in 1935, the Toronto Symphony featured her as a soloist, where she performed the Mozart Bassoon Concerto.

She began studying the bassoon at age 14 at the Toronto Conservatory of Music and soon after won the Gold Medal for Bassoon at a national competition in Preston, Ontario, Canada when she was about 15. Later, while in New York City, her primary teacher was Simon Kovar. She not only studied with him at Juilliard, but also at Manhattan School of Music. Kovar encouraged her to enroll at both institutions so that she could have lessons two times a week. In addition to her rigorous private studies, she was also committed to performing in many ensembles at both schools as per her scholarship agreements. During this time, she was also an active freelance performer. Her many gigs included playing in Antonia Brico’s New York Women’s Symphony Orchestra, and the National Orchestral Association.

Maxine was also a dedicated educator. She taught in the New York City and New Jersey area in the 1940s and 50s, most notably at Montclair State University. She also championed the overseas examination program from the London-based Trinity College of Music. In the USA, Trinity established a number of examination centers. Maxine became involved as a certified teacher of this program, which used a curriculum that emphasized high standards of performance, and integrated music theory. She first became an associated teacher when she was still at Montclair State. She then went on to establish a successful Trinity Center in Pittsburgh, PA after she moved there with her family. For this, TCL awarded Maxine with an honorary degree, which was only the second time an American had received this honor.

In the 1970s and ‘80s, Maxine played a vital role in the formation of the International Double Reed Society. Maxine not only attended conferences, but she also helped to write the first comprehensive guide for hosting conferences and she served as the Chairperson for the Nominating Committee for the Election of IDRS Officers. You can find Maxine mentioned in several IDRS publications from the 1980s and 1990s–she is referenced as a “mainstay” of the Society!

The IDRS administrative contributions came, in part, because she had already been active in the Galpin Society in England which became the model for the American Musical Instrument Society. She was able to use her experience with establishing organizational infrastructure to help IDRS as it began to grow by serving on committees, offering advice to leadership, and contributing to the annual conferences.

Maxine passed away in 1995. A lovely dedication was published in The Double Reed citing her accomplishments and her warm and loving personality.

Biography prepared by Kate MacKenzie, April 2023