Andrew van der Paardt, Principal Oboe
Andrew van der Paardt is an active freelance oboist in the Greater Boston Area. In addition to Phoenix Orchestra, he holds a position with the Boston Philharmonic Orchestra as English horn and is an active sub with orchestras such as the Boston Pops, Portland Symphony in Maine, and Orchestra of Indian Hill. Additionally, he has performed with orchestras such as the Boston Symphony, San Antonio Symphony, New World Symphony, and Fresno Philharmonic, amongst others.
Andrew completed his Bachelor’s degree from The Boston Conservatory in 2017, where he studied with the Boston Symphony’s English hornist Robert Sheena. In 2015, he was the winner of the Boston Woodwind Society’s Ralph Gomberg Oboe Merit Award Competition and The Boston Conservatory Concerto Competition. He attended the Music Academy of the West as an oboe fellow in 2016, where he studied with Eugene Izotov, Cynthia DeAlmeida, Robert Walters, and Sherry Sylar.
Andrew completed his Master’s degree from the New England Conservatory (NEC) in 2019, where he studied with the Boston Symphony’s principal oboist John Ferrillo and was awarded the Boston Foundation’s Laura Ahlbeck Full Tuition Scholarship. During his time at NEC, he was a finalist for positions in orchestras such as the Nashville Symphony, Atlanta Symphony, and Kansas City Symphony.
Directly following his graduation from NEC in 2019, he attended the Tanglewood Music Center (TMC) as an oboe fellow, where he was featured as an English horn soloist with the TMC Orchestra and studied with John Ferrillo, Robert Sheena, and Mark McEwen. In the spring of 2020, he joined the San Antonio Symphony as acting English horn.