©EMMA at emmaexperience.com / MUA: Priscilla Perez

A sought-after chamber music and orchestral musician, oboist Lillian Copeland is an active NYC freelancer who performs with the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra, American Ballet Theater, Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, New Jersey Symphony Orchestra, and the International Contemporary Ensemble, among others. Lillian holds the position of Principal Oboe with the Princeton Symphony Orchestra, the Northeastern Pennsylvania Philharmonic, and the Cabrillo Festival of Contemporary Music in Santa Cruz, Ca.

After receiving degrees from Oberlin Conservatory and Rice University, Lillian spent eight seasons as Principal Oboe with the Santiago Philharmonic Orchestra (Chile). Aside from the diverse opera, ballet, and symphonic repertoire, Lillian performed a variety of chamber music, toured the south of Chile with her woodwind quintet, and collaborated with the Ensamble Filarmónico. A supporter of new music, Lillian premiered new works at the annual Contemporary Music Festival in Santiago.

Lillian has performed as a concerto soloist with the New Baroque Soloists, the Northeastern Pennsylvania Philharmonic, and in Chile with both the Philharmonic and the Conservatory of Music’s Chamber Orchestra, where she also held the position of Professor of Oboe. 

An avid proponent of music education, Lillian is a faculty member at the Juilliard School Music Advancement Program (MAP), Mannes Prep, and Manhattan School of Music pre-college divisions. She has given masterclasses in the United States, Argentina, Brazil, and Chile, and maintains a private teaching studio in NYC. Her students have been accepted at major music schools and conservatories across the United States and Europe.

Born in Lexington, VA, Lillian recently earned her DMA at Rutgers University. Her principal teachers include James Caldwell, Robert Atherholt, and Nathan Hughes.