Coming from Ireland, I never knew that there were different schools of oboe playing - I just played and produced the sound that I heard in my head. In my formative years I had lessons in Ireland from English, Algerian(French) & German players and living in The Netherlands, with its rich wind playing tradition, has of course over the years also influenced my playing greatly. 

Every student is an individual with an authentic voice, and my job is to help this voice be heard by giving them the necessary musical & technical skills to make playing the oboe easy, hence giving them the freedom to express themselves. Growing up in Ireland with limited access to other oboists made me have to work out how to solve issues myself, and learning from Klaus Becker in Hannover verbalised the method & technique for me. He explained technique and musical intention very well and his strong musical personality taught me so much about phrasing, historical context and finding the character in every piece of music. His orchestral excerpts classes were fantastic(he was Principal Oboe of the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra before becoming Professor), and ensured that the vast majority of his students all ended up with an orchestral job, no mean feat nowadays. My own over 25 years experience as a professional orchestral player has also given me a huge amount of information that I am eager to pass on. 

Klaus' mantra, which we always joked about in class, was "Stützen, locker bleiben, Luft führen"(support, relax, direct the air). It was only until I started doing Alexander Technique that I realised what he meant with "Locker bleiben", and that was, "Let go" and it is this letting go, or finding the joy in what you do, that is the root of oboe playing and teaching for me. If it's not fun, then what's the point? That does not mean of course that there's an absence of sweat and tears behind striving for success, the opposite is the case, but investing positive energy and being aware of your body, where the sound begins so that you can eliminate stress and play freely, is part of my approach. That 'Aha!' moment when the penny drops for a student, is a particularly special moment in teaching. 

I teach Oboe at the Amsterdam Conservatoire.