Principal Oboist Pierre Roy has been a member of the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra since 1995. Prior to being appointed to the Philharmonic Mr. Roy was principal oboe of the Evansville Philharmonic Orchestra in Indiana, and principal oboe of the Owensboro Symphony in Kentucky. In addition Mr. Roy is the former principal oboist of the Grant Park Music Festival Orchestra at Millennium Park in Chicago. Pierre has performed and recorded with many orchestras as acting principal oboe including the St. Louis Symphony, the Louisville Orchestra, Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra, Minnesota Ballet Orchestra, and the Portland Symphony Orchestra of Maine. Most recently he has performed as a guest oboist with the Iris Orchestra in Memphis.

Mr. Roy was born in Ft. Wayne, Indiana and was raised in Auburn, Maine. He began his musical studies at an early age taking private clarinet lessons with Edward Lothrop. At the encouragement of his band director George Seamans, Mr. Roy began playing the oboe in high school studying with oboist Stefani Burk.

Mr. Roy attended the University of Connecticut and is a graduate of the New England Conservatory of Music in Boston where he earned his Bachelors and Masters degrees as a student of Fred Cohen and Alfred Genovese. He has attended the Tanglewood Music Center’s fellowship program, performed with the Boston Symphony Orchestra and has participated in many music festivals including Chautauqua and Grand Teton.

As a chamber musician Mr. Roy was a member of the New England Conservatory Honors Woodwind Quintet, which received the Coleman award for Chamber Music in Pasadena, California. He has also performed with many chamber music ensembles including I Musici de Montreal, the Banff Music Festival of Canada and the Roycroft chamber music festival in East Aurora, New York..

As a soloist Pierre Roy has been a featured performer with the New Hampshire Philharmonic, the Las Cruces Symphony, the Evansville Philharmonic, the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra as well as a commencement concert soloist for his New England Conservatory of Music's graduating class. Pierre has also premiered several solo oboe works including Daniel Pinkham’s “Reeds” which was written for him.

Mr. Roy enjoys vacationing in Maine, many outdoor activities, ice skating, golf and music composition, particularly synthesized music which can be listened to online at www.roy-music.com. He has also been a volunteer server and driver for “Meals on Wheels” of North Buffalo. Pierre resides in Amherst with his wife and two children.