Ava Wirth - oboe

Ava Wirth is a Chicago based oboist with a focus on contemporary music. As a soloist, she has placed in competitions in the Midwest, including the 2019 Tuesday Musical Solo Competition Woodwind Division and the 2019 New Albany Symphony Orchestra (NASO) Concerto Competition Senior Division. She has performed as a soloist with the Bowling Green State University (BGSU) New Music Ensemble at the 2018 and 2019 BGSU New Music Festivals as well as performing the Legacy Concerto by Oscar Navarro with the NASO in 2019.

As an avid supporter of contemporary music, Ava has taken part in commissions and recordings that promote new works. In 2018, she was principal oboist on the BGSU Wind Symphony CD, Trends: New Music for Wind Band, Vol. 1. Her most recent commissions and collaborations include Adam Kennaugh’s 2020 work for solo oboe, You’re Here Because Someone Won a Fight With a Rock and Josh Trentadue’s 2021 piece for five-part ensemble, Meditation and Hymn to Nature, which was commissioned by her ensemble, The _____ Experiment.

In her time at DePaul University, Ava performed as principal oboe and english horn with the DePaul Symphony Orchestra and DePaul University Wind Ensemble. In her free time, Ava enjoys tending to her succulents and watching comedy movies. She has earned a Master’s in Music from DePaul University while studying with Alex Klein (2022) and a Bachelor's Degree in Music from Bowling Green State University while studying with Dr. Nermis Mieses (2020).

Concert Dates

  • May 6, 2023 - 2:00 PM EDT (UTC-4)

15 one-minute selections for Ava With

  • Monologue

    Daniele Corsi

    Monologue is a solitary song of an oboe in an American forest where sound spreads freely. The notes of this piece follow each other moving in the registers of the instrument creating a flow of sound that rises gently and fluidly in the air. Majestic nature is the inspiration

    Daniele Corsi lives and works in Rome.His compositions have been performed in Italy, in many European countries, in the United States, Canada and Colombia. Several festivals have hosted his works. His music has also been broadcast by radio stations: Rai Radio Tre, Vatican Radio, ORF (Austria) and Radio Klassik (Austria)

  • Aulete

    Jim Dalton

    The aulos was an ancient Greek double-reed relative to the oboe. In this piece I equate the aulos player (“aulete”) to an athlete. I imagine this as a sort of “floor exercise” for the aulete.


    Jim Dalton is a composer, performer and professor of music theory at Boston Conservatory at Berklee. He has an interests in tuning systems and microtones as well as in historical, ethnic, and unusual instruments.

  • Figaro

    David Heinick

    The Figaro in this work's title refers not to the cat in Disney's "Pinocchio," but to our recently acquired kitten (named, like all of our cats, for an operatic character). This Figaro plays with all-out abandon.

    David Heinick retired in May of 2018 after forty years of teaching, the last twenty-nine at SUNY-Potsdam’s Crane School of Music. He is the composer of over 130 works. With Carol Heinick, he has played music for two pianists, and has been active as a collaborative pianist.

  • Jolly Joker

    Stanley Hoffman

    The title comes from a phrase often uttered by Sgt. Schultz in the old sitcom "Hogan's Heroes," but the music has absolutely nothing to do with that! Rather, it is a whimsical, comical take on the opening motif on which the remainder of the piece is built. Have fun!

    Stanley M. Hoffman (b. 1959, Cleveland, Ohio) holds degrees in Music Composition from Brandeis University (PhD), New England Conservatory of Music (MM) and Boston Conservatory (BM). His music is published by ECS Publishing, Oxford University Press, and Fatrock Ink. Senior Editor at ECS Publishing Group 1998–2021. Freelance editor, composer.

  • ne vale la pena

    William J Joel

    All things are connected. That's the premise of what William J. Joel does. Recently retired, he has taught computer science since 1983 and has been an composer even longer. Several of his works have been recorded as YouTube videos (30 Degrees Below / Yhasmin Valenzuela, Flippin’ / Beth Ratay).

  • Holbein's Lines

    Michael Kosch

    The Lady Audley, the Lady Ratclif, and Cecily Heron--from the court of King Henry VIII, three portrait sketches by Hans Holbein the Younger. Originally drawn on paper with chalk and charcoal, here inscribed on air by a double reed.

    Born in Paterson, NJ, Michael Kosch studied music composition at the University of Miami (FL) and the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign. He has written operas and orchestral pieces as well as chamber, choral, and solo works. His recent music draws inspiration from Renaissance painters and sculptors.

  • Structural Exploration

    Andrea Montalbano

    Structural exploration is a short piece for oboe composed in 2023 by Andrea Montalbano for Ava Wirth. As can be deduced from the title, this composition is a sound exploration of an abstract structure, based on different melodic lines that conduct the listener to other imaginary planes through continuous modulations.

    Andrea Montalbano (Italy, 1990) is a musician active in classical, jazz and contemporary music. His compositions have been awarded in national and international composer competition, performed in many events and festivals. Andrea is clarinet teacher in the Middle School since 2014.

  • Cuatro jornadas y media

    Juan Luis de Pablo Enriquez Rohen

    Cuatro jornadas y media is a one minute piece written specifically for the oboist, Ava Wirth. The technique is tonal and reflects on sepia color artworks depicting the hard working hours that cute, little donkeys cope with at the grasslands and mountains of Mexico. It is a fun clever piece.

    Juan Luis de Pablo Enríquez Rohen lives in Mexico, as an active teacher, speaker, guitarist and composer at Tecnológico de Monterrey. His twenty years old 'JLPER Theory' which connects music with archaeoastronomy has led him to decipher the Aztec Sun Stone, revealing all elements of our Solar System and beyond.

  • Five Futile Fragment

    Dominik Preuss

    As expressed in its title, the piece consists of five short fragments or ideas that are essentially not thematically related. Together, they nevertheless yield a connected overarching musical form. What is meant by the word "futile" in the title is left to the imagination of the listener.

    Dominik Preuss was born 1997 in Munich. He is currently studying composition at the University of Performing Arts (HMTM) in Munich under Moritz Eggert.

  • Iota

    William Price

    Composed in 2022 and dedicated to oboist Ava Wirth, IOTA is divided into two parts. Part I explores the development of quick staccato gestures, while Part II focuses on the expansion and contraction of a long legato melody.

    William Price's music has been performed throughout the United States and Europe. An award-winning composer, Price's music has received accolades and commissions from numerous organizations, including ASCAP, the Percussive Arts Society, and the Music Teachers National Association. Price teaches music theory and composition at the University of Alabama at Birmingham.

  • Got Feet

    Michael Roth

    In my work counterpoint is axiomatic. Daunting then, creating counterpoint for an oboe soloist while embracing my fondness for the insistent beat and making musicians move! Herein GOT FEET - contrapuntally asking Ava to stomp her feet with abandon - with a quick homage to a John Lennon lick, too.

    MICHAEL ROTH’s work, called “music Ives might have composed had he encountered rock-and-roll and beat poetry," includes chamber music, film scores, experimental opera/music/theatre, music/sound for over 250 theatre productions (collaborations with Al Pacino, Randy Newman, Tom Hanks, Christopher Plummer and Tom Stoppard), and his award-winning through-sung web-series, THE WEB OPERA.

  • When Light Breaks

    Louise Vincent

    When Light Breaks was inspired by the way light was reflected on a large still body of water that gradually calmed after fragmenting and refracting when the surface was suddenly disturbed

    Louise studied composition with, among others, Edward Cowie, Nigel Osborne and Judith Weir. After a few years teaching music and then working in an office, Louise has recently found her way back to music and is currently the Music Director of CoMA Sheffield, a contemporary music group in the UK.

  • Reflection

    Adam Walters

    'Reflection' evokes a moment of introspection, at first calm and then, fleetingly, excited and optimistic. The motivic structures are derived from pairs of triads, one the negative (or "reflection") of the other, and the rhythmic language of the faster music alludes to calypso, a satirical form reflecting society through song.

    Adam Walters’ musical language blends elements from Trinidadian and western classical styles. His experiences playing steelpan with Massy All Stars Steel Orchestra and attending Spiritual Baptist church services have impacted significantly upon his music. He lives in London where he works as a composer and French horn player.

  • Blackbird

    Blair Whittington

    I took a morning walk and listened to the sounds of birds in my neighborhood as I was preparing to write this piece. It does have some birdlike characteristics.

    Blair Whittington is a Los Angeles native and composer. He primarily writes chamber music and songs. His music has been performed across the United States and Europe.

  • Lament for Ordinary oboe

    Matthew Williamson

    Experimentation and exploration are essential for innovation, sustaining interest and engagement. But successful innovation is also about knowing what to cherish and preserve. The ‘natural’ voice of the oboe is beautifully lyrical and expressive. Contemporary music should celebrate and laud the instrument for what it does best.

    Matthew Williamson is from London, England. He's been writing music as a hobby for over 20 years but is now looking to fulfil a dream and launch a professional career as a composer. His music has recently been performed at the Louvre, Paris. https://mwilliamson-composer.com/