Chris Wheeler is an oboist in mid and southeastern Michigan, performing regularly with the Michigan Philharmonic and Adrian Symphony, and subbing with many other ensembles, including those in Lansing, Flint, Ann Arbor, and Southwest Michigan. He is also active as a chamber musician and was a founding member of the Pure Winds woodwind quintet. An avid teacher, Chris is Lecturer of Oboe at the University of Michigan-Flint, Adjunct Instructor of Oboe at Hillsdale College, maintains a studio of students in both the metro Detroit and Lansing areas, and is oboe instructor at the Flint Institute of Music. He completed Master’s degrees in both oboe performance and chamber music, studying with Nancy Ambrose King at the University of Michigan and studied with Allan Vogel, former principal oboe of the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra, at the California Institute of Arts (CalArts) for his Bachelor of Fine Arts in oboe performance. While at CalArts, he was also an exchange student at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, studying oboe with Stephen West and composition with Gareth Williams. His other major oboe teachers include Gretchen Morse and Stuart Horn. Though classically trained, Chris’s other musical interests lie in expanding the boundaries and genres of his musical influences via original compositions, commissioning, and blending genres in performance.