Robert Walters, Jr. is a member of the oboe section and the English horn player in the Cleveland Orchestra. Prior to this position he was the English horn player in the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra, a position he successfully auditioned for in 1999 and assumed at the beginning of the 2000-2001 season. A frequent soloist on oboe and English horn, Walters played English horn in the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra for three years prior to that appointment.

His interest in the oboe began with a concert by the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra at his school when he was nine. An extended solo by the oboist caught his ear and piqued his interest; a visit with the player following the concert and a closer examination of the instrument and a subsequent viewing of the concert on PBS with his father led to the decision to learn the oboe. His love of music and innate ability, coupled with a creative incentive program for practice created by his father, led to rapid progress on the instrument as he began study with Dan Shultz and then continued with the professor in oboe at the University of Nebraska.

In ninth grade, a visit to the Rocky Ridge Festival and the inspiration it afforded helped him decide to pursue a musical career. At age sixteen, Walters left home, following completion of a GED exam and a semester at Union College, to study oboe with the principal oboist of the Philadelphia Orchestra, Richard Woodhams.

He subsequently attended Curtis Institute of Music where he first played the English horn and became acquainted with what, since graduation, has proven to be a network of musical associates and friends. By his early twenties he was substituting in, and touring and recording with, the Philadelphia Orchestra under Riccardo Muti.

While studying at Curtis, Walters wrote a play, Songs of Addiction, which was sent to a director in New York by a friend. It was produced off-off-Broadway in 1991 and ran for thirty performances.

Walters moved to New York in the same year, hoping to establish himself as a free-lance oboist. His success with his play that year and other successful ventures in writing led to an interest in pursuing writing at Columbia University. At this point, Walters says, "I decided that if by the end of the year I could have established myself as an oboist, then I would allow myself to go to Columbia - if I got in. Both things happened."

While he wrote, he played oboe and English horn as a soloist and performer in a number of groups, including the American Symphony Orchestra, Brooklyn Philharmonic, Orchestra of St. Lukes, New York Chamber Symphony, American Ballet Theater, the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, and the orchestra in Phantom of the Opera, in addition to studio work for TV commercials and films. He also spent five summers at the Marlboro Music Festival and two summers at the Blossom Music festival, where he studied with John Mack, principal oboist of the Cleveland Orchestra.

The opportunity for a full-time position arose in 1996 when the English horn player in the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra retired. Walters auditioned for the opening and was accepted.

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