Alexander Kinmonth

Alexander Kinmonth has served as Principal Oboe (Jack A. and Aviva Robinson Chair) of the Detroit Symphony Orchestra since his 2015 appointment by Music Director Laureate Leonard Slatkin. He can be heard on the DSO’s recordings of Tchaikovsky’s first, second, fourth, and sixth symphonies. Kinmonth is a graduate of The Juilliard School where he studied with Nathan Hughes of the Metropolitan Opera.

Kinmonth has performed as a guest musician with the Metropolitan Opera in New York City on both oboe and english horn and with the Charleston Symphony Orchestra in South Carolina. In the summer of 2022, Kinmonth participated in the Mainly Mozart Festival in San Diego, California, and the Tanglewood Music Festival in Lenox, Massachusetts. In previous summers, he has attended prestigious music festivals including Music Academy of the West, the Round Top Institute, and the Aspen Music Festival where he received a fellowship in 2014. He also participated in the 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 the New Juilliard Ensemble, working with noted conductors including James Levine, Kurt Masur, and Jaap van Zweden.

Aside from music, Kinmonth has also pursued 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.