Alexandra von der Embse

Alexandra von der Embse’s passion for chamber music and presenting classical music to new audiences has defined her career. She is the principal oboist of the Breckenridge Music Festival, she has the opportunity to work closely with music director Steve Schick, whose visionary programming combines old and new works comprising a diverse body of composers for the full orchestra and smaller chamber ensembles. 

In 2011, as oboist and artistic director, she founded Ensemble39, a chamber group inspired by the Prokofiev Quintet that has performed throughout Philadelphia, New York, Savannah, (GA), Washington, DC, Dresden, (Germany), and Frutillar, (Chile) including non-traditional spaces from self-presented performances in art galleries, restaurants and bars with or without a stage, to a dock on the Llanquihue Lake overlooking a volcano and sponsored by organizations such as the Savannah Music Festival and World Café Live.

From 2016-2018, Alexandra served as principal English horn and associate principal oboe of the Richmond Symphony Orchestra. In addition to her duties on the stage, highlights of her job included the annual collaborations with Virginia Opera and Richmond Ballet. She participated in Richmond’s active Classical Revolution scene, which brought together musicians of all backgrounds and experience. She loved getting to know the city and pursued adult beginning ballet classes at Richmond Ballet and an active membership at the close-knit Shockoe Bottom CrossFit gym. Her favorite coffee roaster, Ironclad, is exclusive to Richmond.

In 2014, she became one of the inaugural fellows for Curtis Institute of Music’s ArtistYear. In addition to performing around Philadelphia with the BOK trio, she visited 4th graders at South Philadelphia’s Taggart Elementary weekly to teach them music composition with non-traditional notation through a curriculum she developed. She exposed the students to different arts organizations in their own community and crowned the year with a collaboration with musicians from Grammy Award-Winning eighth blackbird to perform the students’ works. The following year, she organized residencies at non-profits throughout Philadelphia, including one for music students from Play On, Philly and one for chronically homeless women at one of ProjectHOME’s housing residences. Each project involved a commission in which the composer worked directly with members of the community.

A champion of works by living composers, she has worked with Kinan Abou-Afach, George Crumb, Richard Danielpour, Jennifer Higdon, David Ludwig, Steve Mackey, Steve Reich, and many of her peers, who are quickly establishing themselves as the next generation of great composers, including Vin Calianno, Rene Orth, and Gabriella Smith. Her group, Ensemble39, has commissioned over twenty new works. She has performed in many countries worldwide including Austria, Belize, Chile, China, the Czech Republic, El Salvador, France, Germany, Guatemala, Korea, Mexico, the Netherlands, Nicaragua, and Saint Barthélemy.