Hugo Souza

Hugo Souza

Hugo Souza has been performing with the Columbus Symphony Orchestra since the 2019-20 season. The 2021-22 season was his first year as Principal Oboe.

Hugo has performed extensively throughout Brazil, North America, and Europe as a soloist, chamber musician, and orchestral player. Prior to the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, he had the honor of performing with the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra at Carnegie Hall, as a guest artist at Music@Menlo, and with the ensemble Pentaèdre in Montreal. He also has performed with the American Ballet Theatre and American Symphony Orchestra.

Born into a musical family in Natal, Brazil, he began playing oboe at age fourteen and immediately fell in love. He went on to earn his bachelor’s degree in oboe performance at the Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Norte (UFRN), where both of his parents serve as faculty in the music department. 

Hugo continued his studies in the United States, earning his Master of Music from SUNY Purchase as a student of Maestro Humbert Lucarelli. He is a doctoral candidate at the Eastman School of Music at the University of Rochester, where he studies with Richard Killmer.

During his time at Eastman, Hugo took a leave to accept a teaching position at his alma mater in Natal (UFRN). While on faculty at UFRN, he played an integral role in raising the oboe’s visibility and popularity throughout the country. He co-founded the Brazilian Double Reed Society, which has since held major international conferences featuring masterclasses with world renowned double reed artists. This organization continues to foster a thriving community for double reed players and has amplified classical music’s role in Brazilian culture.

Hugo is on faculty at Capital University’s Conservatory of Music. He resides in Columbus, where he enjoys spending time with his wife and son, exploring the surrounding culinary scene, and creating fusion recipes.