Ralph Gomberg

Ralph Gomberg was born in the West End of Boston, Massachusetts, the youngest of seven musically gifted siblings.

The family decamped to Philadelphia so that one of the boys, Robert, could study violin at the Curtis Institute of Music where they had heard students were admitted on merit and went tuition-free.

At age 14, Gomberg also started studying at the Curtis with legendary oboist Marcel Tabuteau, who had also taught his brother Harold.

While there, he received a call from a young conductor in New York named Leonard Bernstein who was looking for a first oboist for his City Center Orchestra and hired him on the phone.

In 1950 he joined the Boston Symphony Orchestra and held the principal oboe chair with the BSO for 37 years before retiring.