Linda Strommen is Professor of Oboe at Indiana University’s Jacobs School of Music, a position she holds alongside more than three decades as guest faculty at The Juilliard School. She is also a longtime faculty member of the Interlochen Arts Camp and the New York String Orchestra Seminar. A former member of the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra and the Santa Fe Opera, Strommen has held principal and assistant principal oboe positions with the Milwaukee, Honolulu, New Haven, Wichita, and Baton Rouge Symphony Orchestras, and has served as acting principal oboist with the Rochester Philharmonic and the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra. She is a former member of the Timm and Lieurance Woodwind Quintets and has been an active participant in major summer festivals including Marlboro, Bellingham, Bard, and the Masterworks Festival.
A devoted teacher and clinician, her former students hold prominent orchestral, chamber, and teaching positions worldwide such as The Metropolitan Opera Company, Los Angeles Philharmonic, National Symphony, St. Louis Symphony, Houston Grand Opera, San Francisco Opera, Detroit Symphony, Jerusalem Philharmonic, Mexico City Philharmonic, Grand Rapids Symphony, Spokane Symphony, Nashville Symphony, Canton Symphony, Atlanta Opera, Birmingham Symphony, Portland Opera, New Haven Symphony, Wichita Symphony, United States Navy Band and Army Field Bands, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Oklahoma State University, plus other orchestral and teaching positions.
An advocate for new music, Strommen has commissioned and premiered numerous works, including two oboe concerti by Eric Ewazen—Down a River of Time and Hold Fast Your Dreams—as well as his song cycle A Summer’s Journey. Her recording of Down a River of Time with the International Sejong Soloists appears on Albany Records (Sejong Plays Ewazen) and her newest CD (Life’s Journeys- Oboe Works of Eric Ewazen) will be released with Albany (PARMA) Records June 2026. She has also recorded for Telarc, Deutsche Grammophon, Sony, and Summit Records.
With a particular interest in reed making, Strommen co-authored the internationally recognized book Understanding the Oboe Reed (2019) with Elaine Douvas and Graham Salter. She can also be heard on Episode 19 of the Reed Talk podcast.
Strommen earned both her Bachelor of Music and Master of Music degrees from the Cleveland Institute of Music, where she studied with John Mack. Her additional training includes studies with Ray Still, Richard Woodhams, Robert Bloom, and Stephen Colburn. She is the recipient of the 2019 Distinguished Alumni Award from the Cleveland Institute of Music and serves on the Advisory Committees of the Alexander Schneider Concerts and the New York String Orchestra Seminar. She is an F. Lorée Musician.
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