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Nathan Hughes

Principal Oboe, Grace B. Dayton Chair

Nathan Hughes is principal oboe of the Minnesota Orchestra and a member of the faculty at the Juilliard School and Lynn Conservatory of Music. He was previously principal oboe of the Metropolitan Opera as well as the Seattle Symphony and has recorded, toured and made guest appearances as principal oboe with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Los Angeles Philharmonic, New York Philharmonic, Philadelphia Orchestra and San Francisco Symphony.

Hughes joined the Minnesota Orchestra at the end of 2022 and made his solo debut in September 2023, performing Mozart’s Oboe Concerto at Thomas Søndergård’s inaugural concerts as music director. In April 2026 he returns to the solo spotlight in Richard Strauss’ Oboe Concerto.

An avid chamber musician, Hughes has performed with the Philadelphia, La Jolla, Seattle and Brooklyn chamber music societies, as well as at ChamberFest Cleveland and Chamber Music Pittsburgh. In addition, he has made appearances at the festivals of Aspen, Bridgehampton, Lucerne, Marlboro, Pacific, Salzburg, Santa Fe, Sarasota, Spoleto and Tanglewood. He has received critical acclaim for his performances as soloist with the MET Chamber Ensemble at Carnegie Hall, Mainly Mozart Festival Orchestra, Orchestra of St. Luke’s, Seattle Symphony, La Jolla SummerFest Chamber Orchestra and Verbier Festival Orchestra.

Hughes is a dedicated teacher whose students have earned significant positions in numerous major symphony orchestras. He has lectured and presented masterclasses at institutions around the world including at the Curtis and Cleveland Institutes, New World Symphony, Eastman, Oberlin, Indiana University, as well as at the Munich Hochschule in Germany, National University in Korea, Royal Conservatory in Canada and Pacific Music Festival in Japan. He regularly works with young musicians in the summer at the Marlboro Festival in Vermont, Verbier Festival in Switzerland and Pacific Music Festival in Japan.