Diana Doherty

The Oboe

Principal Oboe with Sydney Symphony Orchestra, Diana Doherty isn’t sure if she is in love with her instrument, but she can’t imagine life without it.

The first thing that strikes me as I consider the brief for this article is that there is an assumption that I must be in love with the oboe. I wonder.. am I?

I do have strong feelings about it. I feel inextricably bound to it, in debt to it, defined by it, at times trapped by it, even afraid of it, yet also stubbornly determined to tame it. It challenges me in all kinds of ways, forcing me to face up to...