He is an oboist born in Palo Alto, California, who studied first in California and from the time he was fifteen years old at the Curtis Institute of Music with John deLancie who was the then Principal Oboe of the Philadelphia Orchestra.
He began his career as Principal Oboe with the Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra in 1969 and after 8 years in St. Louis he was appointed Principal Oboist of The Philadelphia Orchestra in 1977, succeeding his teacher John deLancie. He retired from the orchestra in 2018 after 41 years service
As a soloist he has performed in many venues with The Philadelphia Orchestra. Also an active chamber musician he has premiered many chamber works by contemporary composers and worked with many artists that include Christop Eschenbach, Itzak Perlman and Jean-Yves Thibaudet among others. Ensembles he has performed with include the dePasquales, Guarneri, Shanghai and Tokyo String Quartets.
A festival participant, he has participated in the Aspen, La Jolla and Marlboro music festivals and is also Principal Oboe of the World Orchestra for Peace which was founded by Sir Georg Solti in 1995 to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the United National.
Recordings he has featured on include Beethoven: Quintet for Piano and Winds/Serenade for Flute, Sir William Herschel: Music By the Father Of Modern Astronomy with the Mozart Orchestra, Bartok/Liszt/Prokofiev: Music from Saratoga Chamber Music and Joan Tower: Instrumental Music with the Tokyo String Quartet. Others include Mozart Serenades by the Marlboro Festival Orchestra, Dream Journal by Network for New Music, Richard Strauss: Ein Heldenleben/Oboenkonzert and Peter Tchaikovsky: Symphony No. 6 “Pathetique”/Dumka by The Philadelphia Orchestra and 25 Beethoven Favorites – Over 70 Minutes of Music by various artists.
In the field of musical education he has been on the faculties of the Curtis Institute of Music, as Professor of Oboe from 1985 to 1921, Temple University and the Aspen and Taipei Music Academy music festivals. He has also given private lessons and master classes and been a teacher at the Sarasota and Luzerne music festivals.
Sources:
- http://www.pomusicians.org/richard-woodhams.html
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Woodhams
- https://www.laphil.com/musicdb/artists/5783/richard-woodhams
- https://www.pcmsconcerts.org/artist/richard-woodhams-oboe/
- https://www.instantencore.com/contributor/bio.aspx?CId=5082668
- https://www.taipeimaf.com/tmaf-welcomes-richard-woodhams-to-tmaf-2021-as-faculty-2/
- https://slippedisc.com/2021/08/oboe-star-fired-by-curtis-has-no-idea-why/
- https://www.allmusic.com/artist/richard-woodhams-mn0001793578
- https://www.discogs.com/artist/4439318-Richard-Woodhams?type=Credits&filter_anv=0