Smith

Elaine Smith came from a musical background. Her father Art Smith played trombone in the Vancouver Symphony for 33 years and he took her to rehearsals and concerts from as early an age as she can remember. Elaine studied oboe at the University of British Columbia and for 2 years with Ray Still, Principal Oboist with the Chicago Symphony. At 18 she became the 2nd Oboist in the Vancouver Symphony and held that position for 44 years. With the Vancouver Symphony she has recorded many cd's, toured Japan, Canada and western United States. She also played 2nd Oboe and English Horn with the C.B.C Radio Orchestra and toured extensively throughout Canada and the Arctic with them. CBC Radio Orchestra was heard weekly on CBC Radio and their concerts are still regularly broadcast on CBC Radio. They commissioned and premiered more than 200 works by some 80 Canadian composers, playing studio broadcasts and recording many CD's. Elaine taught Oboe at U.B.C and still teaches privately at her home in Coquitlam, B. C. She taught many students and was disappointed with the Oboe methods for beginning and intermediate Oboe students. She wrote many good studies for her students, then decided to write her own method for beginners and included music from the Classical, Baroque and Romantic composers. After that, she started the intermediate book writing scale studies, awkward fingerings for the oboe and using the best music of the masters. She only included music that was challenging, but not too difficult for an intermediate student. Once completing this book, an advanced student would be playing complete concertos and sonatas and that music is all available separately with piano accompaniment.