Twenty-year-old oboist, IZAIAH CHEERAN, is an emerging musician dedicated to bringing communities together through shared experiences, cultures, and our inherent differences, using the arts as a unifying force.
In October 2024, Cheeran was appointed Second Oboe/English Horn of the Philadelphia Ballet by Beatrice Jona Affron. In addition, he has performed with the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, Curtis Symphony Orchestra, Symphony in C, Quad City Symphonies, and Carnegie Hall’s NYO2 and NYO-USA. He has also spent summers at the Music Academy of the West in Santa Barbara, CA, and the Pacific Music Festival in Sapporo, Japan. His orchestral career has led to performances internationally, most recently at Carnegie Hall, David Geffen Hall, the Royal Concertgebouw, the Lucerne Festival, and Suntory Hall.
Equally passionate about solo and chamber music, Cheeran frequently performs in the weekly Curtis “Student Recital Series” and is deeply committed to community engagement. This past January, Cheeran performed alongside pianist Jonathan Biss in the “Music for Food” benefit concert to support food insecurity initiatives in the city of Philadelphia. As a soloist, he has performed with the Minnesota Orchestra and has earned top honors in competitions presented by Thursday Musical and the Schubert Club.
He has garnered media recognition through appearances on NPR’s “From the Top” and the PBS-WHYY documentary series, “On-Stage at Curtis”.
Currently, Cheeran is a pupil of Katherine Needleman and Philippe Tondre at the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia, which he entered in 2022 at age sixteen. A Minnesota native, he began playing the oboe at age ten under the tutelage of Dr. Carrie Vecchione and Cassie Pilgrim. When not practicing or making reeds, you can find him exploring Philadelphia or perfecting latte art at home