Musicians

Oboist Ian Davidson has appeared as soloist and chamber musician on six continents as part of forty-six international concert tours. He is Principal Oboe of the Austin Opera Orchestra and Solo English Horn and Associate Principal Oboe of the Austin Symphony Orchestra.  Other engagements include stints as Principal Oboe of the Dallas Bach Orchestra, Lyric Opera of Dallas and the Austin Sinfonietta as well as Assistant Principal Oboe of the Santa Fe Opera Orchestra, Principal Oboe of the Dallas Chamber Orchestra, and Solo English Horn of the Bear Valley Music Festival.

Among his 75 concerto appearances include performances with the Dallas Bach Orchestra, Austin Chamber Orchestra, Austin Sinfonietta, Dallas Chamber Orchestra, Laredo Philharmonic, Chamber Soloists of Austin, Blue Lake Festival Orchestra, Dallas Bach Orchestra, Balcones Chamber Orchestra, Texas Bach Festival Orchestra and the Bear Valley Symphony Orchestra. International recitals and residencies include the Moscow Conservatory of Music, Hong Kong Baptist University, the University of Silesia, Trinity College of Music in London, the Institute of Culture in St. Petersburg, the University of Piui in Brazil, Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University in South Africa, EAFIT University in Medellin, Colombia, the University of Guadalajra, the University of the Americas in Quito, and the State Conservatory of Music in Bratislava.

Dr. Davidson holds degrees from DePauw University and the University of Texas.  In 2013 he was named a Distinguished Alumnus of DePauw University and in 2014 was awarded, by DePauw, the award for Outstanding Achievement in Creative and Performing Arts.  Recently he began a three-year term as a member of the DePauw Centers Advisory Board.

Ian also serves as a Fulbright Senior Specialist with the United States Department of State.  In 2013 and 2014 he travelled to Tanzania to work with students and faculty at Tumaini University in Usa River.
In 2014 Dr. Davidson was named University Distinguished Professor by Texas State University and Regents’ Professor by the Board of Regents of the Texas State University System.
Ian records and performs exclusively on Oboes and English horns manufactured by F. Loree in Paris.

Toby Blumenthal, a Steinway Artist, has appeared as a soloist with many ensembles including the Chicago and Houston Symphony Orchestras. She has received high acclaim for her numerous chamber music performances with members of the Philadelphia Orchestra, duo recitals with her late husband, Philadelphia Orchestra cellist, Bert Phillips, and other internationally renowned artists.
A native of Chicago, she is a graduate of Northwestern University School of Music, and the University of Houston (graduate studies). Her post graduate studies were with Leonard Shure at the University of Texas in Austin, and Rudolph Serkin at Marlboro Chamber Music Institute in Vermont.

Toby and her late husband, Bert Phillips founded The Luzerne Music Center and the Luzerne Chamber Music Festival in Lake Luzerne, NY in 1980 where they shared executive and artistic directorships and where she continues to teach and perform. Toby and Bert were also Founders and Co- Artistic Directors of Classic Chamber Concerts in Naples, Florida where they performed in the Luzerne Trio (Raymond Gniewek, violin), and the Philadelphia Piano Quartet (Norman Carol, violin, Lamar Alsop, viola,) for fifteen years.

Toby now resides in Texas and was Director of the CHAMPS (chamber music in public schools) for Salon Concerts in Austin, for ten years. She is currently Artistic Director and Pianist for Classical Sound. She has performed for the past ten seasons in the Georgetown Festival of the Arts, participated in ‘The Mozart Festival Texas in San Antonio, the Texas Bach
Festival in Georgetown, and the Mason Chamber Music Festival.