The French oboist Maurice Bourgue passed away last October 6 in his hometown at the age of 83. Born in Avignon in 1939, Bourgue studied at the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Paris. After winning the competitions of Geneva (1963), Birmingham (1965) and Munich (1967), Charles Munch offered him in 1967 the position of first oboe of the Orchestre de Paris, which he held for thirteen years. His performance as a soloist and also as a chamber musician, especially at the head of the Maurice Bourgue Octet, was also very remarkable.
His repertoire was very broad and ranged from baroque to contemporary. In the latter, he premiered Chemins IV by Luciano Berio or Les citations by Dutilleux. From the eighties, he developed an important pedagogical work as oboe professor at the Conservatoires of Paris (1979-1992) and Geneva (1993-2011).
