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Washington McClain: WFIU's October Artist of the Month

A man holds an oboe

WFIU's featured artist for the month of October is historical oboist and Indiana University Jacobs School of Music faculty member Washington McClain.

Based in Ontario, Canada, McClain is the principal oboist of l'Ensemble Arion in Montréal and Apollo's Fire Baroque Orchestra in Cleveland, Ohio. He specializes in Baroque and Classical oboe performance practice, and frequently gives masterclasses on this topic. As a teacher, McClain travels all over North America, including regular trips to Bloomington to work with students in IU's Early Music Institute. McClain holds degrees from Northeast Louisiana University and Northwestern University.

As the former principal oboist for Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra, McClain has traveled and performed extensively in Europe and the United States. Other ensembles with which he has performed include The City Musik of Chicago, Seattle Baroque Orchestra, Opera Lafayette in Washington, D.C., the Washington Bach Consort, and San Francisco's Philharmonia Baroque. He performs regularly at music festivals, including the Amherst Early Music Festival, the Festival International de Musique Baroque de Lamèque in New Brunswick, the International Baroque Institute in Boston, and the Boston Early Music Festival.

When Washington McClain was featured in Windplayer magazine, he became the first period instrument specialist to be featured in this magazine, which is aimed at modern instrumentalists. An active recording artist, McClain has released recordings on the Sony Classical Vivarte, ATMA, Analekta and Centaur labels.

WFIU will feature performances by Washington McClain throughout the month of October.

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