Jim Sharrock, English Horn, fell in love with the oboe at age 10, when listening to a recording that turned out to be his future college professor, E. Earnest Harrison. Across the next 50 years, this led him to many wonderful musical experiences including two oboe performance degrees from LSU, playing Principal Oboe in the Baton Rouge Symphony Orchestra, in New Orleans, and across New England; hundreds of orchestra concerts, hundreds of opera and ballet performances (Jim thinks he could still play the Nutcracker from memory), and soloing on Franaix’s The Flower Clock. In New England, the Cor Anglais has become more prominent in his life. He has soloed on Sibelius’ Swan of Tuonela, Coplands’ Quiet City, Schostakovitch’s 8th Symphony, and numerous performances of Dvorak’s New World Symphony. However, playing the epic English Horn solos in Wagner’s Tristan und Isolde for Tundi (2019) was more than a musical summit... it was an amazing life experience (beginning with 6 months of decoding Wagner’s phrasing)!

Jim also champions local composers, and has premiered many compositions, including for solo oboe, oboe/English horn with piano, woodwind quintet, orchestra, and chorus. He has been fortunate to be invited to conduct Keene State Orchestra, Monadnock Chorus, Raylynmor Opera, Friends of Messiah., and the Keene Lions Club Annual Musical. He is also a grateful product of 3 public school band directors, Margaret Helms, Ray Borrell, and Pete Phillips, as well as Kennedy Center Oboist Gene Montooth.

Live acoustic music with fine musicians and an appreciative audience is one of the best experiences on the planet.