Nathan Hughes is Principal Oboe of the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra. He previously served as principal oboe of the Seattle Symphony and as acting associate principal oboe of the San Francisco Symphony. In addition, Hughes has performed as guest principal oboe of the New York and Los Angeles philharmonics as well as the symphony orchestras of Chicago, Dallas, Atlanta, and Baltimore. A prolific chamber musician, Hughes has performed with the Met Chamber Ensemble at Carnegie Hall as well as with the Philadelphia and Seattle Chamber Music Societies. He has also made appearances at the Aspen, Bridgehampton, Lucerne, Marlboro, Salzburg, Santa Fe, Sarasota, Spoleto, and Tanglewood festivals. A frequent soloist, Hughes has been featured in concertos with the Met Chamber Ensemble, Seattle Symphony, Savannah Symphony, Mainly Mozart Orchestra, Seattle Chamber Orchestra, National Repertory Orchestra, Verbier Festival Orchestra and the Sinfonietta Polonia in Poland. Born in St. Paul, Minnesota, Hughes is on the faculty of The Juilliard School and the Verbier Festival in Switzerland. He previously taught at the University of Washington and has given master classes at the New World Symphony, San Francisco Conservatory as well as the Poznan Academy in Poland. He holds degrees from the Cleveland Institute of Music where he was awarded the 2008 Alumni Achievement Award and The Juilliard School. His teachers have included John Mack, Elaine Douvas and John de Lancie.