Mr. Dolbashian began his musical training as a student at New York’s famed High School of the Performing Arts. Upon graduation, Mr. Dolbashian entered the Hartt College of Music, in Hartford Connecticut, where he earned his degrees in oboe performance. (Photo by Mary Butkus)

Mr. Dolbashian’s conducting career began when he accepted the directorship of the Holyoke Symphony Orchestra in Holyoke, Massachusetts. His orchestral conducting studies took him to the prestigious Pierre Monteaux School of Orchestra Conducting in Maine, studying under Charles Bruck; and to Yale University, where he served as student conducting assistant to Otto Werner-Mueller en route to earning a Master of Musical Arts degree in Orchestral Conducting. Further studies took place at the Tanglewood Institute, with Leonard Bernstein, Seiji Ozawa, Andre Previn, and Gustav Meier, and the Boris Goldovsky Opera Conducting Seminar.

Before coming to Missouri, Mr. Dolbashian was a member of the Hartford Symphony for 11 years and was principal oboe of the Hartford Chamber Orchestra, the Goldovsky Opera Company, and the Hudson Valley Philharmonic. He made his solo oboe debut in Town Hall, NY, NY, 1969.

In addition to his duties as Music Director of the University Philharmonic, Alton Symphony, and the Compton Heights Concert Band, Mr. Dolbashian also maintains an active guest conducting schedule. Most recently he appeared as guest conductor of the 1998 International Festival of Music Orchestra in Belem, Brazil, and as guest conductor of the Londrina Symphony in Londrina, Brazil.