Beth Orson has played Assistant Principal Oboe and English Horn with the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra since 1990. She joined the faculty of the UBC School of Music in 1993 and began teaching at the National Youth Orchestra of Canada in 2008. As a chamber musician, Ms. Orson often performs with the Turning Point Ensemble and in recital at the University of British Columbia. Principal Oboe of the NY Symphonic Ensemble from 1988-2005, she completed 19 tours to Japan with this renowned chamber orchestra, performing in every major concert hall in Japan, often as soloist. As an English horn player Ms. Orson’s solo performances include the North American premiere of James MacMillan’s “The World’s Ransoming” with the VSO, Brian’s “In the Stillness of September 1942” with the VSO, the Kraus/Ferlandis Concerto for English horn and Orchestra with the Sinfonia-Orchestra of the North Shore and numerous performances of Sibelius’s “The Swan of Tuonela” with the VSO. In April 2012, she will be the featured English horn soloist with the VSO in Rodney Sharman’s “Songs Without Words.” Ms. Orson has recorded for CBC Records, Deutsche Grammophon, Essay, New World, Parnassus and Technics Records. A graduate of the Oberlin Conservatory and winner of the Oberlin Concerto Competition, Ms. Orson’s principal teachers were Laurence Thorstenberg, James Caldwell, and Elaine Douvas.