Ron Cohen Mann
Ron Cohen Mann (he/they), a.k.a. oboeron, brings brightness and optimism to his personal brand of social media with his popular Instagram and YouTube channel. Ron has been hailed as the "Jonathan Van Ness of the oboe" (CBC Music) and proudly projects his queer identity as a role model for LGBTQ youth. Ron is a frequent recitalist, new music proponent, orchestral musician, and teacher based in Toronto. He was recently named on CBC’s 30 Hot Canadian Classical Musicians under 30. Ron is a Howarth Artist and plays on a Howarth XL oboe.
Inspired by the variety of sounds and colours of the oboe, Ron is passionate about advancing the instrument as a solo voice in recitals and chamber music. His solo debut at Carnegie Hall was with harpist Noël Wan, as featured artists in the Yale in New York series. As a winner of the Yale Chamber Music Competition, he performed the monumental Prokofiev Quintet on the subscription Oneppo Chamber Music Series; he has also performed the iconic Nielsen Quintet at Jazz at Lincoln Center. At the Orford Festival, he shared the stage with Alex Klein, James Campbell, and Stéphane Lévesque. At the Brott Music Festival, he was a featured soloist for Brandenburg Concerti Nos. 1 & 2.
Ron was a prizewinner at the Orchestre Symphonique de Montréal Manulife Competition, and the winner of the Yamaha Young Performing Artists Competition and Ben Steinberg Musical Legacy Award. Additionally, he was a semi-finalist in the Houston Symphony Ima Hogg Competition.
A champion of new music and lesser-known solo music for the oboe and English horn, Ron has been fortunate to premiere pieces by Jocelyn Morlock, Nicky Sohn, Matthew Emery, and Liliya Ugay. He has fostered a partnership with the Yarilo Contemporary Music Society in Vancouver, BC where he was a featured recitalist, as well as joining them for a performance of Steve Reich’s Tehillim. He has served as guest principal oboe with the Esprit Orchestra.
Feeling equally at home within the orchestra, Ron cherishes performing with ensembles in Canada and abroad. In Ontario, he has appeared with the National Arts Centre Orchestra, the National Ballet of Canada Orchestra, Hamilton Philharmonic Orchestra, and the Symphony Orchestras of Kingston, Kitchener-Waterloo, Niagara, and Windsor. His festival appearances include The National Repertory Orchestra (Breckenridge, Colorado), L’Orchestre de la Francophonie, The National Academy Orchestra of Canada, and The National Youth Orchestra of Canada where he received the Award of Excellence. Outside of North America, he has toured to India, China, Russia, Estonia, Latvia, and Portugal.
Ron is a recent addition to the Faculty of Music at Wilfrid Laurier University as Oboe Instructor. He has previously held positions as an Oboe Instructor at Yale College and as a Teaching Artist at the Yale Music in Schools Initiative. He proudly serves as a Mentor for the National Academy Orchestra of Canada. He is a frequent clinician at arts high schools in the Greater Toronto Area. For information about online oboe lessons including trial lessons for prospective Laurier students, click here.
Ron is a graduate of the prestigious Artist Diploma program at the Yale School of Music. He completed his Master of Music at Mannes School of Music and his Bachelor of Music at the University of British Columbia where he was awarded the UBC Medal in Music. His teachers and mentors include Sarah Jeffrey, Stephen Taylor, Sherry Sylar, and Beth Orson.