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Oboe and piano

Emmet Byrne and Rebecca formed their oboe and piano duo in 2004 at the Hochshule für Musik, Köln, Germany. They have given critically acclaimed concerts in Ireland and Germany, and, in 2006, were invited to tour Japan as part of the EU-Japan Fest.

As well as performing standard works from the piano and oboe repertoire, they also enjoy exploring lesser-known works and contemporary compositions.

„ They were at one in terms of phrasing, colour, balance, nuance and approach.This was music-making of the highest order. „

Declan Townsend, The Examiner, August 2007

„a virtuoso and most memorable occasion „

the Munster Express, February 2005

„Not once did they try to convince by means other than the purely musical…a reliable and homogenous partnership“

Martin Adams,The Irish Times, May 2004



Emmet Byrne

Emmet Byrne, from Waterford, first studied Oboe with Rosaleen Molloy at the Wexford School of Music and with Matthew Manning of the RTÉ National Symphony Orchestra of Ireland. He is a past pupil of De La Salle College Waterford and a former member of The Barrack Street Concert Band, Waterford.

He graduated with an Honours Degree and a Performance Diploma from The Royal Northern College of Music, Manchester in 2003, where he studied with Hugh McKenna of the Hallé Orchestra, and the well known English Oboist Melinda Maxwell. During his time at the RNCM he was awarded the A.L. Winfield Oboe Prize, and the Trevor Wye and Maime Woods Chamber Music Prizes. In 2004/2005 he studied with Prof. Christian Schneider at the Hochschule für Musik, Cologne, having been awarded a scholarship by the German Government.

He has freelanced in the UK with the BBC Philharmonic Orchestra including performances at the Proms in the Royal Albert Hall and on tours of Japan and Greece. He has also played with the Orchestra of Opera North, Manchester Camerata, Hallé Orchestra, BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra, Royal Scottish National Orchestra, Liverpool Philharmonic and the Northern Sinfonia. In Ireland he has performed with the Irish Chamber Orchestra and both the RTÉ National Symphony and Concert Orchestras. He has toured the United States, Poland, France and Finland with Camerata Ireland.

He was the youngest of 8 semi-finalists at the 2001 Isle of Wight International Oboe competition. He has given solo recitals at Duiske Abbey, Kilkenny, the Cantiere Festival in Montepulciano, Italy and with pin. In February 2004 he played in the RTÉ Living Music Festival as an instrumental guest with the Irish Chamber Choir. In Septemer '06 he was appointed Oboe tutor in the Junior Department of the Royal Northern College of Music, Manchester.