John Mack Memorial Scholarship in Oboe
(est. 2007) Jacobs School Professor Linda Strommen and her mother Ellen Strommen established the John Mack Memorial Scholarship in Oboe in order to honor and remember their dear friend and teacher, John Mack.
John Mack was born in 1927 in Somerville, New Jersey. He attended The Juilliard School and Curtis Institute of Music where his teachers were Harold Gomberg and Marcel Tabuteau respectively. He played principal oboe in the Sadler's Wells Ballet Orchestra, the New Orleans Symphony, the National Symphony, and for 36 years in the Cleveland Orchestra.
He taught at the Cleveland Institute of Music for 41 years, the Kent/Blossom Music program since its inception in 1968, and also at The Juilliard School, the John Mack Oboe Camp, the Aspen Festival School, and the Hartt School of Music. In 1992, he was awarded an Honorary Doctorate of Music from the Cleveland Institute of Music. After his retirement in 2001, he received the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Cleveland Orchestra and was elected to its board, the first musician to be so honored.
The Jacobs School of Music is grateful to the Strommen's for continuing the legacy of John Mack through the John Mack Memorial Scholarship in Oboe. This scholarship is awarded each year to deserving undergraduate and graduate oboe students at the Jacobs School of Music.