SMYLES, HARRY

SMYLES, HARRY. Symphony oboist (4 December 1917 in Kansas City, Missouri). He came from a musical family: both parents were professional singers, who gave duo recitals and were soloists for church choirs. He began piano study with his father when he was eight years old. Later he studied oboe with Philip Kirchner, of the Cleveland Orchestra, beginning in his junior-high-school years and continuing through his college career. His family moved to Cleveland, Ohio, when he was a child...