Rate My Professor Robert Atherholt

Robert Atherholt served as Professor of Oboe at Rice University’s Shepherd School of Music in the Arts and Culture faculty for 41 years until his retirement in 2025. He held the position of Principal Oboist with the Houston Symphony Orchestra for 27 years, from 1984 to 2011. Atherholt studied with Robert Bloom at The Juilliard School. Prior to his appointment with the Houston Symphony, he was a member of Orpheus, The St. Luke’s Chamber Ensemble, and The Opera Orchestra of New York, among others. During the 1979–1980 season, he served as Principal Oboist of The New Jersey Symphony. He has appeared as guest Principal Oboist with The Boston Symphony, The St. Louis Symphony, The St. Paul Chamber Orchestra, The Santa Fe Opera, The Houston Grand Opera, The Houston Ballet, The Sun Valley Summer Symphony, and The Grand Teton Music Festival.

Throughout his career, Robert Atherholt has presented clinics and masterclasses at distinguished institutions and festivals, including The New World Symphony, Oberlin Conservatory, The National Orchestral Institute, Round Top, The National Repertory Orchestra, and The Texas Music Festival. At the Shepherd School of Music, he mentored countless students over four decades, with many advancing to principal positions in major orchestras throughout the United States, as well as in Israel and Switzerland. Others have secured faculty roles at universities around the world. His profound influence on oboe pedagogy and performance is reflected in the success of his former students holding prominent positions globally. Atherholt performed on recordings with the Houston Symphony, including Tobias Picker’s “Romances and Interludes,” “Prelude,” and “Old and Lost Rivers; The Encantadas,” conducted by Christoph Eschenbach. He also appeared on Chinary Ung’s “Grand Spiral” and Anton Bruckner’s Symphony No. 4 with the Houston Symphony under Hans Graf.