"Althea Ifeka is a superb oboist..."  Ivan March, Gramophone, September 2006

"Althea Ifeka was superb in the Albinoni Concerto... a lovely liquid sound, and long phrases effortlessly negotiated"
Bath Chronicle

"A sensitive and stylish performer" Canberra Times

Althea Ifeka is a solo oboist specialising primarily in the performance of works from the Baroque period and the twentieth century. Based in London, England, she performs widely as a freelance concerto soloist and duo recitalist, orchestral guest principal and private teacher.  
 
Born in Nigeria of Nigerian and English parentage, Althea later moved to Australia where she began studying the oboe at the age of eleven with Sharman Pretty at the Canberra School of Music.  Four years later she was awarded the Australian Music Examinations Board Licentiate Performance Diploma.  She completed her education at Girton College, Cambridge, the Royal Academy of Music, London and the Banff Centre for the Arts in Alberta. She was awarded several prestigious scholarships at all three institutions, won two prizes at the RAM, and was offered a Fulbright Scholarship for doctoral study at the Eastman School of Music in the US in 1992.
 
Since entering the music profession in 1994, Althea has met with considerable critical acclaim for her performances. She has played concertos at major venues such as the Purcell Room, St John's Smith Square and the Proms at Marble Hill Park, with orchestras including the Milton Keynes and Bath City Orchestras and the Belmont Ensemble of London. In July 1996 she gave the British premiere of the oboe concerto The Songs of the Magi by the African-American composer Adolphus Hailstork. As a former scholar on the Countess of Munster Musical Trust Recital Scheme, she has given numerous recitals at music clubs and universities throughout the UK and EIRE, in addition to radio broadcasts for Radio 3, RTE Fm3 and Classic Fm.
 
In March 2007, Althea won 3rd Prize at the Paris-Ville d'Avray International Interpretation Competition, which featured the oboe in recently-researched 18th-century repertoire and French contemporary works of extreme difficulty.  Althea is the first British prizewinner in 10 years of open competition at Paris-Ville d'Avray.  Other career highlights include the release of her debut CD - From Leipzig to London - on the Oboe Classics label in March 2006, in which she performs with harpsichordist Katharine May.  Combining three Bach sonatas for oboe, oboe d'amore and cor anglais and harpsichord with four pieces by mid-twentieth-century British composers, their disc received excellent reviews in a number of publications including Gramophone magazine.  
 
Orchestral engagements include performances as Guest Principal Oboe and Cor anglais with the RPO and RPCO, the BBCSO, the Royal Opera House Orchestra, the RTE NSO, and several seasons playing Principal in Matthew Bourne's productions of Swan Lake and Nutcracker! at Sadler's Wells.  
 
If you are interested in finding out more about Althea's career and musical partnerships, in listening to MP3 sound samples or in purchasing From Leipzig to London, then please visit her website at www.altheaifeka.com <http://www.altheaifeka.com>  (link at top).