Marion Walker

Marion Walker is co-principal oboist of the Kristiansand Symphony Orchestra and a member of the contemporary music group Ensemble Ernst. Previously she has been employed as Principal Cor Anglais of the Malaysian Philharmonic Orchestra, and has worked with all the professional orchestras in Norway as well as orchestras in Australia, Sweden and Switzerland. From 1997 to 2004 she was a member of the contemporary group Oslo Sinfonietta.
  As an influential pioneer in the oboe community, Walker ventured the first “Oboes and bassoons for Children” project in Northern Europe, using special child friendly instruments with tiger stripes to accentuate that oboists, bassoonists and tigers are in danger of going extinct. The qualities and physical properties of the tiger motivate young pupils.
  Recruiting and teaching a large group of 7–8 year olds, developing methods for teaching younger pupils, and cooperating with the national Norwegian Youth Orchestra organisation in connecting and supporting fellow oboists and bassoonists are important parts of this recruitment work.
  Walker currently teaches oboe at the Culture School in Kristiansand, and is regularly hired as an instructor for various teacher training programs, orchestral and wind band seminars and Young Talents Masterclasses. Walker has received many scholarships and grants, has had contemporary works written for and dedicated to her and has partaken in many recordings with different ensembles. Walker studied at the Norwegian Academy of Music in Oslo, The Conservatory in Geneva and the University of Western Australia. She plays on an oboe made by Howarth of London, model LXV.