Ewan Millar, oboe

Ewan is a prominent young oboist building a career in the UK. In 2020 Ewan won the woodwind final of BBC Young Musician, advancing to the Grand Final, and giving what was described as, an “exemplary, richly shaded account” (The Guardian), of Navarro’s “Legacy” concerto with the BBC Philharmonic. Since the competition he has been performing as a soloist in recitals around the UK, including at the Windsor, Cheltenham, and Lake District Summer Music Festivals. From 2024, he has been selected as a Tillett Debut Artist, and Countess of Munster Trust Recital Scheme Artist, and as such will be continuing to perform and raise his profile around the UK. Ewan believes strongly that creative programming and thoughtful audience engagement is vital not only to an enjoyable concert, but to the growth of the industry as a whole. 

Ewan has also been working around the UK as a freelance musician with various prominent orchestras, and up to this point has had the privilege of playing principal with the RPO, Aurora Orchestra, Britten Sinfonia, and London Concertante, as well as second seat with the Philharmonia, Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, and Oxford Philharmonic Orchestra. He spent a year as an Emerging Musicians Fellow with the RLPO, and has been selected as a Foyle Future Firsts musician with the LPO for the 2024/25 season. 

In 2022 Ewan graduated from St. Hilda’s College, Oxford, with a first-class degree reading Music, having received his year’s highest marks in the Social and Cultural Study of Music. In 2024 he completed his Master’s at the Royal Academy of Music, receiving a first-class degree and Diploma of the Royal Academy of Music; upon graduating he received the Alumni Development Award for exemplary studentship. He studied with Melanie Ragge as his primary teacher, and also received tutelage from Christopher Cowie, and Patrick Flanaghan for cor anglais. While at RAM, he led the Academy Symphony Orchestra, Chamber Orchestra, and Opera Orchestra. A significant highlight of this time was being solo oboist for an album, released by Linn Records, of the Bach Piano Partitas reimagined for chamber orchestra, and conducted by Trevor Pinnock. BBC Music Magazine had significant praise for the woodwind in particular: “[their] delicately nuanced lines are real gems”. His Master’s studies were generously supported by scholarships from the Charlotte Fraser Foundation, Help Musicians UK, and Countess of Munster Trust, as well as a senior award from the Hattori Foundation; this last award afforded him the opportunity to give a recital in the prestigious 1901 Arts Club. 

Other career highlights include playing the Marcello Oboe Concerto with the Oxford Philharmonic Orchestra at St. Martin-in-the-Fields and performing a Telemann Fantasia for the 2022 UK Holocaust Memorial Day ceremony. Ewan has also had the joy of performing the Strauss Oboe Concerto in various venues across the country. In October 2024, he will be playing the Marcello Concerto again, this time in the Dvořák Hall in Prague.

Beyond oboe Ewan is also a jazz pianist, gigging regularly in bars and restaurants around Oxford and London. Ewan is a Howarth Artist, and plays on a Howarth XM oboe, which he was kindly aided in buying by the Gerald Finzi Trust.