John Minsker (1912–2007) entered the Curtis Institute of Music in 1931 as an oboe student of Marcel Tabuteau and received his diploma in 1935. After a brief period as English horn in the Detroit Symphony, in 1936 he was named by Leopold Stokowski as solo English horn of the Philadelphia Orchestra, a position he held with great distinction for 25 years. He was appointed to the Marcel Tabuteau Chair for Woodwind Studies at Curtis, a position he held from 1979 to 1985. Highly respected as teacher, he passed on Marcel Tabuteau’s concepts to his many students. In 1997, during an interview with Melissa Stevens, he spoke about the Tabuteau System.
The following is an extract from Melissa A. Stevens’ 1999 dissertation Marcel Tabuteau: Pedagogical Concepts and Practices for Teaching Musical Expressiveness: An Oral History.
The following is an extract from Robert Huffman’s article “John Minsker — Gentle Giant.” The Double Reed. Vol. 31, No. 3 (2008): 103-106.
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