FEATURED SINFONIA MUSICIAN: Getting to Know the Sinfonia Family
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Nobuo Kitagawa, Principal OboeGrowing up in a suburb of Tokyo, Nobuo Kitagawa started his musical journey with organ and piano and later picked up the flute, piccolo, and even the euphonium.
By high school, he grew fascinated by the flute, setting a goal to become the best flutist when he joined his high school wind ensemble. “But I met a friend who was taking flute lessons with a college professor,” Kitagawa remembers. “Back then, in Japan, taking private lessons for high school students was very rare, especially for someone who had no ambition to go to music school. He was clearly better than I was, and I was very intimidated.” But fate and circumstances soon conspired and changed his musical trajectory. “One day, the high school band director said, we just got ourselves a used oboe. Who wants to play it?” Kitagawa recalls. “So, I raised my hand immediately. All my life, I have loved doing things with my hands, making things and breaking things. Very quickly I realized that so much hand work is involved with the oboe. And it was just a perfect match for me. “As far as I know, I was the very first oboe player in my hometown,” he adds. “I taught myself how to play and make reeds from books and records. I did eventually take lessons for preparing to go to music school. I had my first student (my sister) before I had my own teacher.” He says his appreciation of the instrument’s vocal qualities developed over time. It took a leap forward when he heard a piece on an Eastman Wind Ensemble recording where the oboe and flute played a delicate melody an octave apart. “It was a magical moment,” Kitagawa says. “That was the first time I thought, wow, this instrument has an amazing tone. It took me years to actually find a voice I really admired.” |
A graduate of Tokyo University of Arts and a recipient of master of music and doctor of musical arts degrees from Yale University, he joined the Pennsylvania Sinfonia Orchestra when he moved to the Lehigh Valley 16 years ago.
“What I enjoy most about the Pennsylvania Sinfonia is the camaraderie,” he says. “It’s like a small family.”
Beyond his work as a performer, Kitagawa manages a YouTube channel, NK Music Lab, where he has posted more than 850 instructional videos, arrangements for wind instruments with piano accompaniment, and technical exercises for oboe. He also offers an online store.
He also occupies his creative time making modern editions of Baroque music, turning to the International Music Score Library Project, a storehouse of free public domain sheet music, for source material. In addition to several oboe concertos, he edited an orchestra suite by Telemann, which never had a modern edition.
“I find it fascinating because I have to create a keyboard part from scratch and that really forces me to dig deeper into the structure of the music,” says Kitagawa, whose most recent project was Marcello's Oboe Concerto in D minor, which he premiered at this year’s June Valley Vivaldi series.
His recreational works can be heard here.
In his spare time, Kitagawa hosts two Zoom sessions per week for mostly Japanese people who wish to practice their English conversation skills. “It started as a COVID project and it kept going for over two years, with up to 12 people joining the conversation sessions,” he says. “I have made many new friends through this outreach.”
In addition to the PSO, Kitagawa maintains an active freelance career, also serving as principal oboe of the Bach Choir of Bethlehem Festival Orchestra. He teaches at Lafayette and Muhlenberg colleges and at the Kinhaven Adult Chamber Music Workshop.
Becoming a single father five years ago while managing a busy professional life as a musician, he has started taking his physical health seriously. He follows a strict three day regimen of strength training, rowing, and jogging.
“I have never been in better shape my whole life,” Kitagawa says, adding that his physical conditioning enhances and supports his oboe playing. “There’s so much work yet to be done. I wish to be at my best.”
“What I enjoy most about the Pennsylvania Sinfonia is the camaraderie,” he says. “It’s like a small family.”
Beyond his work as a performer, Kitagawa manages a YouTube channel, NK Music Lab, where he has posted more than 850 instructional videos, arrangements for wind instruments with piano accompaniment, and technical exercises for oboe. He also offers an online store.
He also occupies his creative time making modern editions of Baroque music, turning to the International Music Score Library Project, a storehouse of free public domain sheet music, for source material. In addition to several oboe concertos, he edited an orchestra suite by Telemann, which never had a modern edition.
“I find it fascinating because I have to create a keyboard part from scratch and that really forces me to dig deeper into the structure of the music,” says Kitagawa, whose most recent project was Marcello's Oboe Concerto in D minor, which he premiered at this year’s June Valley Vivaldi series.
His recreational works can be heard here.
In his spare time, Kitagawa hosts two Zoom sessions per week for mostly Japanese people who wish to practice their English conversation skills. “It started as a COVID project and it kept going for over two years, with up to 12 people joining the conversation sessions,” he says. “I have made many new friends through this outreach.”
In addition to the PSO, Kitagawa maintains an active freelance career, also serving as principal oboe of the Bach Choir of Bethlehem Festival Orchestra. He teaches at Lafayette and Muhlenberg colleges and at the Kinhaven Adult Chamber Music Workshop.
Becoming a single father five years ago while managing a busy professional life as a musician, he has started taking his physical health seriously. He follows a strict three day regimen of strength training, rowing, and jogging.
“I have never been in better shape my whole life,” Kitagawa says, adding that his physical conditioning enhances and supports his oboe playing. “There’s so much work yet to be done. I wish to be at my best.”
