Alexander Kinmonth

Alex Kinmonth has recently been appointed Principal Oboe of the Detroit Symphony Orchestra by Leonard Slatkin and can be heard on the DSO’s most recent recordings of Tchaikovsky’s Symphonies 1, 2, 4, and 6. He is a graduate of The Juilliard School, where he studied with Nathan Hughes of the Metropolitan Opera.

Kinmonth has substituted in the Metropolitan Opera on both oboe and English horn and in the Charleston (SC) Symphony Orchestra. In the summer of 2022, Kinmonth participated in the Mainly Mozart Festival in San Diego CA, and the Tanglewood Music Festival in Lenox, MA. In previous summers he has attended the Music Academy of the West, the Round Top Institute, and the Aspen Festival, where he received a fellowship in 2014. He also participated in the prestigious New York String Orchestra Seminar at Carnegie Hall in 2013.

Kinmonth is a winner of the Professional Musicians Club of Boston’s Award for "Outstanding Achievement." During his time in New York, Kinmonth performed operas, orchestral works, and new music with the Juilliard Orchestra and New Juilliard Ensemble, working with noted conductors such as James Levine, Kurt Masur, and Jaap Van Zweden.

Kinmonth grew up in a musical household in Carlisle, MA, choosing to play violin at age 5 and oboe at age 9. From a young age, he has pursued orchestral, solo, and chamber music interests, playing with the Boston Youth Symphony, the New York Youth Symphony, and winning awards from the Massachusetts Instrumental and Choral Conductors Association, Philharmonic Society of Arlington, and Concord (MA) Orchestra. His former teachers include John Ferrillo and Laura Ahlbeck.

Although music is the main focus of Kinmonth’s life, he also enjoys a balance of athletic, social, and academic interests. He participated in the 2010 National Junior Olympics for fencing, and enjoys soccer and downhill mountain biking. He is also the winner of a National Gold Key Award in the Scholastic Art and Writing Awards’ Short Story category.