Ewan Millar, oboe

One of the most prominent young oboists in the UK, in 2020 Ewan won the woodwind final of BBC Young Musician, giving an “...exemplary, richly shaded account…” (The Guardian) of Navarro’s ‘Legacy’ concerto with the BBC Philharmonic in the Grand Final. 

In 2025 he won the coveted Gold Medal at the Royal Over-Seas League Competition, and in May 2026 was selected to join the roster of the Young Classical Artists Trust (YCAT), both at the Wigmore Hall in London. Ewan has been supported by both the Tillett Debut Scheme and Countess of Munster Recital Scheme, helping him secure recital opportunities around the UK; he has performed at the Windsor, Cheltenham, and Lake District Summer Music Festivals amongst others. 

Highlights of Ewan’s 2026/27 season include performances of the R. Strauss concerto with the Plymouth Symphony Orchestra, and his debut recital at Britten Pears Arts. He has played as a soloist in Wigmore Hall, Bridgewater Hall, King’s Place, St. Martin-in-the-Fields, and The Salle Cortot, and has given masterclasses in France and The Netherlands. Ewan's long-time collaborative pianist is the exciting young soloist Tomos Boyles. In their duo recitals they pride themselves on creative programming, performing niche repertoire and creating novel arrangements. They have also recorded a selection of arrangements for their debut with Delphian Records, due for release in October 2027. 

Ewan recently performed the world premiere of a half-hour work, ‘Eau de Cologne’, for oboe and piano by distinguished composer and Oxford professor Martyn Harry, giving the international premiere in the summer of 2026 in the USA. Ewan is also a passionate chamber musician and was invited to join IMS Prussia Cove for their September 2026 seminar. He has also previously performed as a member of the award-winning wind quintet Lumas Winds. 

As a freelancer, he has performed as principal oboe with the LPO, RPO, CBSO, SCO, BSO, Aurora Orchestra, Britten Sinfonia, Ulster Orchestra, Philharmonia of London and Birmingham Royal Ballet, as well as the Royal Northern Sinfonia, where he will take on the Principal Oboe position from October 2026. 

Ewan gained first class degrees from St. Hilda’s College, Oxford, and his subsequent postgraduate at RAM, where he was awarded the Bicentennial Prize and Janet Craxton Memorial Prize, as well as winning the departmental Oboe Prize. He studied primarily with Melanie Ragge, while also receiving lessons from Christopher Cowie, Tom Blomfield, and Patrick Flanaghan for cor anglais. Growing up in Reading he was taught by Nicky Fairbairn. Beyond oboe he is also a jazz pianist, and would gig professionally in bars and restaurants around Oxford and London. 

Ewan is a Howarth Artist, and plays on a Howarth XM oboe, which he was kindly aided in buying by the Gerald Finzi Trust.