Sarah Roper, Solo Oboe of the Real Orquesta Sinfónica de Sevilla, Spain, since 1996, was born in New Zealand but grew up and was educated in England. She studied the oboe at the Royal Academy of Music, London, with George Caird and Celia Nicklin, whilst reading music at London University simultaneously. At the RAM she was awarded the Robert Rendell prize. The “DAAD” (German government) scholarship enabled her to study at the Staatliche Hochschule für Musik, Karlsruhe, Germany, with Thomas Indermühle, attaining distinction for the postgraduate “Künstlerische Ausbildung 1” diploma.

Sarah held the Associate Oboe position in the Orquesta Ciudad de Granada, Spain, 1995-1996 and was Associate Oboe in the Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra, New Zealand, 2008-2009. She has performed and recorded as Solo Oboe with Klangforum, Vienna, orchestras and ensembles in Spain (Orquestra Simfònica de Barcelona i Nacional de Catalunya, Real Filharmonía de Galicia, Moonwinds, Orquestra de Cadaqués), Germany (SWR Orchester) and in the UK (BBC Philharmonic, Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Halle Orchestra and the Royal Scottish National Orchestra).

She is a founding member of Cuarteto Emispherio with whom she released the CD “Quartets for Oboe and Strings” in 2015 (including the world premiere recording of “Horus” by Ferrer Ferran) and the world premiere digital track “Cuarteto con Oboe” by Jesús Torres in 2019 with Oboe Classics. In 2022 Cuarteto Emispherio launched a new project “Interconexiones” which involves the commissioning and recording of five brand new quartets for oboe and strings (https://cuartetoemispherio.com/eng/). Sarah also recorded and released “Fantasy for Oboe” by Malcolm Arnold in 2017 and “Silentium Amoris” for oboe and piano by Jesús Torres with Ignacio Torner in 2020 with Oboe Classics.

As a recitalist and soloist, she has performed in the UK, Austria, Germany, Spain, Italy, Hungary, Czech Republic, Japan, USA, Brazil, Australia and New Zealand. In 2013 Sarah gave solo recitals during the first Monteverdi Oboe Festival in Bolzano, Italy. She performed in the ABPD (Brazilian Double Reed Society) International Conferences in João Pessoa (2017) and in Sao Paulo (2018), Brazil. She world premiered “Soledad Habitada” for oboe and piano by Jesús Sancho (IDRS 2012 Ohio) and “Silentium Amoris” for oboe and piano by Jesús Torres (IDRS 2019, Tampa, Florida). In January 2020 Sarah performed the Spanish premiere of “Neon Highway” (concerto for oboe and 12 instruments) by Luke Styles and “Silentium Amoris” for oboe and piano by Jesús Torres with Taller Sonoro, during the “IX Encuentros Sonoros” Festival in Seville. In 2022 she collaborated with the publisher, Curiad, for the first printed edition of the concerto for oboe and orchestra, Carillons for Oboe and Orchestra (1965, revised 1973) by welsh composer Grace M. Williams (1906- 1977), a work which Sarah performed in the USA in July 2022.

She collaborates with local youth orchestras such as the Youth Orchestra of South Spain (OJA) and the Orquesta Escuela Filarmonía de Sevilla. She has collaborated as professor of the Master’s degree in Orchestral Studies at the Academia de Estudios Orquestales at the Barenboim-Said Foundation and Fundación MpMusic in Seville and forms part of the oboe department at the Escuela Superior de Música de Alto Rendimiento (ESMAR). Sarah has been invited to give masterclasses during international summer courses and at music schools such as the Staatliche Hochschule für Musik and Darstellende Kunst, Stuttgart, the Royal Academy of Music, London, Auckland University, NZ, the Australian Double Reed Society in Adelaide, the ABPD (Brazilian Double Reed Society) International Conferences in João Pessoa (2017) and in Sao Paulo (2018), Brazil, and the “Oficina de Musica”, Curitiba in Brazil (35º, 2018 and 38º, 2021). In 2020, during the lockdown, she collaborated with the project “Oboé sem Fronteiras” (UFBP, Brazil) and the Arkansas State Virtual Summer Double Reed Camp (USA). She serves on jury panels for national and international competitions, such as the 2014 “Young Artist Competition” in New York, the 2017 “Gillet-Fox Competition” in Appleton, USA and the “2022 Online International BTHVN WIEN Competition”.

Sarah, an advocate for the double reed world, is a founding member of the ADCS (Seville Double Reed Society) and was President of AFOES (Spanish Double Reed Society) November 2018 – September 2022. Since January 2022 she serves as President of the International Double Reed Society.

Sarah is an Associate of the Royal Academy of Music and plays a Howarth of London LXV oboe.