Ricardo Castañeda, received his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in music performance from Northwestern University. He was a student of Ray Still, former principal oboist of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra.

Mr. Castañeda is currently Principal Oboist with the Chicago Sinfonietta and English Horn/Oboe chair with the Illinois Philharmonic Orchestra. He is also a member of the Chicago Ensemble and Barossa Woodwind Quintet. Previous positions include Principal Oboist with the Lake Forest Symphony Orchestra, South Bend Symphony Orchestra, Elgin Symphony Orchestra and English Horn soloist with the Mexico City Philharmonic.

Mr. Castañeda has appeared as soloist with orchestras in Latin America, Europe, Japan and the United States.

An active freelance oboist, Mr. Castañeda has performed as extra/substitute with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Lyric Opera Orchestra, Grant Park Symphony and Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra. He has also served as principal oboist for orchestras for Chicago Opera Theater, the Bolshoi Ballet, American Ballet Theater, San Francisco Ballet and Joffrey Ballet as well as numerous Broadway in Chicago musical productions. Mr. Castañeda is also the oboe instructor for Birch Creek Music Performance Center in Wisconsin, where he also serves as Program Director for the Symphony Session.