Marc Lifschey

Marc Lifschey was born on June 16, 1926 in New York City. His father, Elias Lifschey, was a violist who was a member of the NBC Symphony Orchestra.[2] Lifschey attended the Curtis Institute of Music, where he studied with Marcel Tabuteau.[3] Lifschey played in the Buffalo Philharmonic for a short period of time before being appointed to principal oboe of the National Symphony Orchestra, a post which he held between 1948 and 1950.[2] After playing with the National Symphony Orchestra, Lifschey became first oboe of the Cleveland Orchestra under George Szell.[4] Lifschey held this post from 1950-1965, with the exception of the 1959-1960 season, during which he played principal oboe for the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra. After leaving Cleveland because of a famous personality clash with Szell, Lifschey went to the San Francisco Symphony, where he was co-principal under Josef Krips before being appointed principal in his own right.[3] In 1984, William Redington Hewlett endowed the Edo de Waart chair for principal oboe, a seat which Lifschey occupied until his retirement from orchestra playing in 1986.[3]

Lifschey was also an established teacher who was a faculty member at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music and the Jacobs School of Music, part of Indiana University.[1]

Lifschey died at the age of 74 from a bone marrow disorder.