Saving The Oboe From Extinction

The oboe has been listed as one of five classical instruments on a national "endangered species" list because too few people play it and orchestras have struggled to recruit members to their woodwind sections, according to a recent report released in London. Now, the T.W. Howard Co., Sussex, England oboe maker is attempting to address the problem with a "child friendly" mini-oboe. The company's education coordinator, William Ring said, "the problem has always been the oboes are too heavy for children to play so they take up another instrument instead. the new mini-oboe has been designed to replicate the full-sized instrument as closely as possible." the mini-oboes and mini-bassoons are being introduced to pupils at schools in Sussex as part of the government's Wider Opportunities scheme. It aims to allow every school-age child to have a year of free tuition on an orchestral instrument.

--Source - The Music Trades, Sept. 2007