Northern Illinois University
School of Music
College of Visual and Performing Arts

Emily Fagan

Applied Artist

Emily Fagan is a freelance oboist located in the Chicago suburbs. An Aurora native, she received her Bachelor’s Degree from Northwestern University and her Master’s Degree from University of Houston. She can regularly be heard as the Principal Oboist of the Fox Valley Orchestra. Emily has also performed with the Elmhurst Symphony, Wheaton Municipal Band, and other Chicago and Houston-based ensembles and chamber groups. Her career has taken her all over North America, performing in locales such as Miami, Houston, Quebec, and Monterey.

In addition to her growing performance career, Fagan is a dedicated teacher. Aside from her roles at NIU, Fagan has a thriving private oboe studio out of Aurora and teaches for several public high schools. She has also previously served on the oboe faculty for University of Houston’s summer music camps. Passionate about oboe pedagogy, Fagan leads seminars and masterclasses for middle and high school instructors on teaching double reed instruments to their own students. She also teaches double reed pedagogy classes for Northwestern University.

Fagan has studied extensively with many notable oboists, including Adam Dinitz, Eugene Izotov, Jonathan Fischer, Robert Atherholt, Mingjia Liu, Scott Hostetler, and Michael Henoch. She is also a recipient Northwestern University’s “Ray Still Award,” given to select graduating oboists who demonstrate the highest level of musical achievement.