Rudolph Vrbsky.
An unsigned obituary on Friday’s (12/13) City of Oaks Funeral Home site (Raleigh, North Carolina) states, “Rudolph Vrbsky (born March 7, 1952) passed away on Thursday, December 12th, 2024 after a long battle with Parkinson’s disease. Rudy was the former principal oboist of the National Symphony Orchestra in Washington D.C. for over 25 years, appointed by Mstislav Rostropovich in 1981. He was also a fixture at the Marlboro Music Festival in Vermont, performing there in the summer for well over half his life, having first attended as a student in 1971. He can be heard on countless recordings with the NSO … He is also featured on many of the historic Marlboro Recording Society releases … Rudy grew up in Chicago, and started playing the piano and drums in elementary school and the oboe in middle school. He joined the Chicago Civic Symphony in high school and then attended Northwestern University, where he studied with Ray Still, the former principal oboist of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. He attended the Curtis Institute in Philadelphia … Prior to his appointment to the NSO, he held teaching positions at Western Illinois University and Dartmouth College…. He taught at the University of Maryland, American University, and the Peabody Institute. Through his long association with the Marlboro Festival and School, he influenced multiple generations of wind players who now occupy many of the top orchestra and teaching positions in the United States.”
