The Hardison and Stoltze Chair

    Since joining the North Carolina Symphony in 1989, Principal Oboe Melanie Wilsden has been a featured soloist with the Symphony on several occasions and has been a featured guest with the Brussels Chamber Orchestra as a part of that group’s U.S. tour.
    Born in Hatfield, England, Wilsden grew up in Atlanta, Georgia, where she was a student of Elizabeth Camus of the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra. Having received her Bachelor’s degree from the Cleveland Institute of Music, where she studied with noted performer and pedagogue John Mack, Wilsden went on to earn her Master’s degree at The Juilliard School where she studied with Elain Douvas, Principal Oboe of the Metropolitan Opera.
    Before coming to North Carolina, she held the position of Associate Principal Oboe with the San Francisco Symphony and was oboist and English hornist with the Savannah Symphony Orchestra. She has also performed with the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, The Cleveland Orchestra, Brooklyn Philharmonic, Northeast Pennsylvania Philharmonic, Mallarmé Chamber Players, and Washington Square Music Festival Orchestra, as well as on William Peace University’s Manning Music Series. In addition to appearing on North Carolina Symphony recordings, she has also been featured in collaborations with Raleigh news personality Bill Leslie.
    Passionate about teaching, Wilsden teaches oboe at North Carolina State University and has served on the faculties of UNC-Chapel Hill, Meredith College, St. Mary’s School, and Cannon Music Camp at Appalachian State University. In addition to numerous master class appearances, including at the UNC School of the Arts, she maintains a private music studio.