Oboe Players and Oboe Scholarships Available: When you think of college scholarships for music, your mind probably goes straight to pianists, violinists, or maybe even singers. But here’s a little-known fact: if you play the oboe, you might be sitting on one of the best-kept secrets in music education—a fast track to scholarships.
That’s right. The ratio of oboe players to available scholarships is shockingly low, and that’s good news for anyone considering this beautiful but often-overlooked instrument.
Let’s break it down and see why the oboe might just be your golden ticket 🎟️.
🎵 So, Why Is the Oboe So Rare?
The oboe isn’t the kind of instrument kids usually pick when they’re just starting out. It’s expensive, hard to play, and requires constant reed-making and fine-tuning.
Here’s why there aren’t many oboe players around:
- High cost: A decent oboe can cost more than a used car!
- Reeds: Oboe reeds are double reeds — they wear out fast and are expensive (or need to be handmade).
- Tricky to learn: Playing in tune is notoriously difficult on the oboe.
- Limited instructors: Not every school has a good oboe teacher.
Because of all this, most school bands or youth orchestras have just one or two oboists — if any.
📊 Oboe Players and Oboe Scholarships Available
Let’s look at the estimated stats in the U.S.:
- Total high school oboe players: Around 5,000
- Total oboe-specific scholarships (college & conservatory): About 300–400 per year
That means there’s roughly 1 scholarship for every 12–17 oboe players. Compare that to something like violin, where it might be 1 scholarship per 50–100 players, and you can see why oboists have the edge.
In fact, at many schools, oboists are so rare that they’re actively recruited. Some schools even offer generous scholarships to students just to have a functioning orchestra or wind ensemble.
🎓 College Music Programs LOVE Oboists
Top schools like Juilliard, Eastman, Indiana University, and Oberlin often reserve scholarship spots specifically for oboists. They might only get a handful of applicants each year, and they need the instrument covered in their ensembles — so they offer strong incentives to talented students.
Here’s how it plays out:
| Instrument | Applicants | Scholarships | Odds |
|---|---|---|---|
| Violin | 300 | 3 | 1 in 100 |
| Oboe | 10 | 3 | 1 in 3.3 |
That’s a huge advantage for oboe players.
Even schools that aren’t strictly music-focused (like liberal arts colleges or large public universities) offer music participation scholarships for oboists. You don’t even need to major in music — just play in the band or orchestra
🎯 Real Opportunities for Real Students
Let’s say you’re in high school and you already play the oboe — you’re ahead of the game.
🎉 You could:
- Apply to multiple schools and leverage offers.
- Receive partial or full scholarships just for filling a crucial spot in an ensemble.
- Get private music scholarships from foundations like the International Double Reed Society (IDRS).
Even if you pick up the oboe later (say, switching from clarinet or flute), you still stand a chance — schools are often desperate to find oboists with any experience.
📚 Tips for Landing an Oboe Scholarship
Ready to take advantage of this opportunity? Here’s what you should do:
- Start early (if possible) — even a year or two of experience helps.
- Find a private instructor — the oboe is too tricky to learn alone.
- Learn reed-making — it’s a bonus skill and looks great on applications.
- Record strong audition tapes — your tone quality matters more than technical wizardry.
- Apply broadly — don’t limit yourself to just one or two schools.
- Enter competitions — even small ones can open doors and boost your resume.
🌟 The Bottom Line
If you’re a high school musician looking for college scholarships, the oboe could be your secret weapon. It may be a challenge to learn, but that challenge pays off — big time.
With fewer oboists applying and colleges eager to fill those critical orchestra spots, your odds of earning a scholarship are dramatically higher than most other instrumentalists.
So if you’re up for a little extra effort — and ready to embrace one of the most expressive, hauntingly beautiful instruments in classical music — the oboe could be your ticket to a fully funded college education.
🎶 Sometimes, the path less traveled does make all the difference.
More Scholarships?
Toronto Metropolitan University Future Leaders Fellowship | Study in Canada
Trinity College Dublin Global Excellence Postgraduate Scholarships | Study in Ireland
University of Otago Master’s Scholarships for International Students
Dean’s Award for Academic Excellence – University of Bath Scholarships
