Now residing in the Berkshires of Massachusetts, oboist Barbara LaFitte was a familiar face on the Boston music scene. She was the principal oboist in the Boston Ballet Orchestra and held the English Horn position in the Boston Pops Esplanade Orchestra from 1994-2020. She was a member of the cutting-edge Boston Modern Orchestra Project. For many years, she was the principal oboist in the Boston Classical Orchestra, the Rhode Island Philharmonic, and performed regularly with Emmanuel Music in the Bach Cantata series. She can be heard on two recordings nominated for GRAMMY Awards: Boston Modern Orchestra Project’s recording of Stephen Mackey’s “Dreamhouse”, and Danilo Perez’s highly acclaimed jazz recording, “Providencia”. She is also the oboist on the theme music for the PBS program, Frontline.

Her summer activities have included performing at the Aspen Music Festival, Spoleto Festival dei Due Monde, Tanglewood Music Center, Bay Chamber Concert Series, Rockport Music Festival, Monadnock Music Festival, and in 2015, Jean-Luc Fillon’s Oboe Academy for Improvisation in La Roche Guyon, France. In 2024, she was a participant at “Joy in Marlboro”, working with Eugene Friesen and Kenny Werner on spontaneous improvisation.

Since 1994, Ms. LaFitte has been Professor on the faculty of Berklee College of Music in Boston, where she developed an innovative oboe studio, coaches contemporary chamber ensembles, and was co-founder of the Berklee Contemporary Symphony Orchestra. She currently teaches courses on Efficient Practicing, Audition Workshop, and Professional Development. Her Practicing Techniques course is also available through Berklee Online.

Ms. LaFitte presents masterclasses about topics such as “Circular Breathing Demystified”, “Oboists Outside the Bachs”, “Get Off the Page”, “Audition Preparation”, and “Phrasing in the Tabuteau Tradition”, and “The Curious Life of Nicolas Slonimsky”.