Kevin Pearl

Assistant Principal

Oboe

Kevin Pearl is the assistant principal oboe of the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra, a position he assumed in the fall of 2015. Prior to his appointment in Milwaukee, Kevin was a member of the New World Symphony in Miami Beach, Florida, and toured with the orchestra to the Harris Theater, the Kennedy Center, and Carnegie Hall. During the summer, he is the oboe faculty member at Festival Napa Valley, and he performs regularly with the Grant Park Orchestra, the Mainly Mozart All-Star Orchestra, and the Lakes Area Music Festival, with whom he performed Richard Strauss’s oboe concerto in 2016. He is also the First Prize winner of the inaugural Double Reed Society’s Young Artist Competition.

As a chamber musician, Kevin was featured on the New World Symphony’s chamber series with a performance of Mozart’s piano quintet with pianist Garrick Ohlsson and as a guest soloist on Joan Tower’s Island Prelude. Outside of the traditional classical music paradigm, he writes and records with composer and producer Nathaniel Wolkstein, incorporating the oboe and English horn into symphonically-infused popular music.

With a passion for teaching, Kevin maintains a private studio in Milwaukee and coaches the woodwind sections for the Milwaukee Youth Symphony’s top three orchestras. He has given masterclasses at the University of Miami and the Mainly Mozart Festival, coached at the New World Symphony, and served on the faculty of Wisconsin Lutheran College.

Born and raised in Coral Springs, Florida, Kevin received a Bachelor of Music degree from the Eastman School of Music and a Master of Music degree from the Shepherd School of Music at Rice University. His primary teachers are Richard Killmer, Robert Atherholt, and Robert Weiner, with additional mentorship from Elaine Douvas, Richard Woodhams, and Nathan Hughes. When he’s not playing the oboe, Kevin enjoys spending time with his cat Niyla, playing video games, and making his friends laugh.