Recognized as one of the main oboists today, Alex Klein began his musical studies in his home country at age 9, continuing at the Oberlin Conservatory of Music and the Curtis Institute in Philadelphia. Klein holds a Grammy Award for his recording of Richard Strauss’s Oboe Concert with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, led by Daniel Barenboim. Klein was an oboe soloist in Chicago for 9 years under Barenboim, and in 2017 he received the title of soloist Emeritus of Oboé by the current musical director Riccardo Muti. Klein has won awards in international competitions in Geneva, Tokyo, New York and Prague, and is regularly invited to judge international competitions in these institutions and also in England, China and Russia.
Klein left his position in the Chicago symphony due to complications related to the focal dystonia of musicians, a neurological condition that inhibits two fingers from his left hand. During his convalescence, Klein dedicated his musical career to the advancement of young talents in Latin America and neglected communities, founding Femusc in 2006, the São Paulo International Chamber Music Festival in 2009 and Prima – Inclusion Program Social through music and the arts in 2012. Klein also acted as a conductor of orchestra in front of the main Brazilian orchestras as well as in the United States, Europe and was the first Brazilian to lead one of the main orchestras in China. After re-learning the oboe and sufficiently overcoming the limitations of focal dystonia, Klein made a new audition for his previous position and returned to the Chicago Symphony Orchestra in what Chicago Magazine called “one of the biggest twists of classical music”.
Today, Alex Klein is an oboe soloist at the Calgary Philharmonic Orchestra, Canada, as well as an oboe professor at the DePaul University in Chicago, also teaching / performing at the Aspen Festivals, Buzzards Bay, Sunflower, Atlantic Music Festival, and is regularly invited to teach master classes and recitals at North American universities.
Klein recorded dozens of albums with the Chicago Symphony and as a soloist and chamber musician, with critical acclaim. His last CD, released this year by Cedille Records, with 20th century sonatas for Oboe and Piano, was nominated for a Grammy for “Producer of the Year” and was praised by critic David Canfield for the fanfare magazine: “In my opinion, play oboe just doesn’t get any better than that.”