Christopher O'Neal joined the London Mozart Players in 1986
Where else do you teach/play?
Member of Fibonacci Sequence; Principal Oboe in New Queens Hall Orchestra and Principal Oboe in Orchestra of St Johns. Guest Principal Oboe with all major orchestras in the country. Professor at Trinity College.
Where were you born?
Thames Ditton, Surrey.
How old were you when you started playing, and why did you take up the oboe?
Ten. Nobody knows, but I have a very early memory of seeing/hearing Leon Goossens at the RFH, and also my dad had records of Roger Lord in the LSO playing Tchaikovsky and I loved the sound to pieces.
What has been your most fun/interesting musical experience so far?
Without wishing to sound precious, it's all fun and all interesting so it's rather hard to point out any one occasion – if I think of something I'll let you know! My fondest memory is spending two months in each of two consecutive summers in Venice with the Orchestra Internazionale Anton Webern when I was just out of college. We piled through tons of really good contemporary music playing to hundreds of fabulously enthusiastic Italians. One time, we played Schoenberg's Wind Quintet (a daunting ouevre by any standards) in a farm barn near Padua and all the local youth turned up with their girlfriends on their Lambrettas: they loved it.
Who have you enjoyed working with the most and why?
Is this a trick question?
Do you play any other instruments?
Enough piano to accompany my students, and impress my young son (but not for long no doubt).
Do you have any hobbies you manage to fit into your spare time?
I love cooking (and eating), skiing and playing bridge. I used to play a lot of squash, and am now keen to get my tennis going again.
Where is your favourite holiday destination?
Corsica at the moment.
What's your favourite sound?
Church bells on a sunny Sunday morning. Heard from my bed.
