Philippe Tondre has served as principal oboe of The Philadelphia Orchestra since the start of the 2020–21 season and, since 2022, has been professor at the Curtis Institute of Music as well as international chair at the Royal Northern College of Music in Manchester, United Kingdom.
Born in Mulhouse, France, in 1989, he began studying the oboe at the age of six with Yves Cautrès at the Mulhouse National School of Music. He later entered the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique de Paris, where he studied with David Walter and Jacques Tys. Mr. Tondre’s artistic development was further shaped through lessons with renowned teachers including Maurice Bourgue, Heinz Holliger, Jean-Louis Capezzali, Dominik Wollenweber, and Ingo Goritzki.
In addition to his work in Philadelphia, Mr. Tondre is principal oboe of the Chamber Orchestra of Europe (since 2019) and a member of both the Mito Chamber Orchestra (since 2012) and the Saito Kinen Orchestra (since 2010). As a soloist, he has appeared with major ensembles including The Philadelphia Orchestra, the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, the Budapest Festival Orchestra, the Orchestre de la Suisse Romande, the Moscow Soloists, the Orchestre du Capitole de Toulouse, the Geneva Chamber Orchestra, the Kammerakademie Potsdam, the Munich Chamber Orchestra, the Hiroshima Symphony Orchestra, and the Osaka Philharmonic. He made his debut at the Berlin Philharmonie in 2013, performing Martinů’s Oboe Concerto with the Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin, and in 2022 he appeared at Carnegie Hall with the Orchestra of St. Luke’s in Bach’s Oboe Concerto in A minor.
Mr. Tondre has held several prominent orchestral positions: principal oboe of the SWR Symphonieorchester (2008–16, 2018–20), the Budapest Festival Orchestra (2014–20), and solo oboe of the Leipzig Gewandhaus during the 2016–17 season. As a guest principal, he has regularly appeared with the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra in Amsterdam, Zurich Opera, the Orchestre de Paris, and the New York Philharmonic. From 2015 to 2023, he served as professor at the Musikhochschule Saarbrücken in Germany.
Mr. Tondre is a laureate of numerous international competitions: First Prize at the International Double Reed Society’s Fernand Gillet–Hugo Fox Competition (2009); Second Prize at the Tokyo International Competition (2009); Third Prize at both the Geneva International Competition (2010) and the Prague Spring International Competition (2008), where he also received the Gustav Mahler Prize. In 2011 he won the ARD International Music Competition in Munich, where he additionally received the Audience Prize and the prize for best interpretation of Liza Lim’s commissioned work. In 2012 he was honored with the Beethoven Ring by the Beethoven Festival in Bonn, joining a distinguished list of recipients including Julia Fischer, Lisa Batiashvili, and Gustavo Dudamel. He has also appeared on ARTE’s Stars of Tomorrow, hosted by Rolando Villazón.
An avid chamber musician, Mr. Tondre has collaborated with Jean-Yves Thibaudet, Lars Vogt, Pierre-Laurent Aimard, Yuri Bashmet, and Nathalie Stutzmann, and he has been invited to festivals including the Tokyo Spring Festival, Mozartfest Würzburg, the Dvořák Festival Prague, the Enescu Festival Bucharest, the Sochi Winter International Arts Festival, the Besançon International Music Festival, and the Molyvos International Music Festival.
Mr. Tondre has recorded extensively, notably for BR Klassik, NHK, and King Records, and released two acclaimed albums with pianist Danae Dörken: Contrasts and French Fragrances (Klarthe and SWR Classic). Both received prestigious awards, including the Diapason d’Or Découverte, five Diapasons, and Choc Classica.