Paraguayan/American oboist TAMARA BENITEZ WINSTON is the acting English Horn/Oboe of the Nashville Symphony Orchestra. Tamara enjoys a busy orchestral career and has performed with the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra, the New York City Ballet, the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra, and the Montclair Orchestra.
As a teaching artist, Tamara is passionate about sharing music with a wide range of audiences and promoting inclusivity in arts education. She is the Associate Director of MusicAlly, an organization that serves children in need of art and connection, by providing video music lessons with the nation’s best music teachers, and creating an online community of peers. Tamara is an alum of Carnegie Hall’s Ensemble Connect fellowship. Through this program, Tamara created and performed numerous interactive performances for communities throughout New York and abroad.
This past summer, she performed at the Grand Teton Music Festival. During previous summers, she has attended Classical Tahoe, The Aspen Music Festival, the Spoleto Festival USA, National Symphony Orchestra Summer Institute, Brevard Music Center, and the Eastern Music Festival.
Tamara holds degrees from The Juilliard School and Mannes School of Music. She has studied with Nathan Hughes and Elaine Douvas. Other primary teachers include Richard Dallessio, Jelena Dirks, and Linda Strommen.
Outside of music, Ms. Winston enjoys hot yoga, cooking new dishes, and taking her rescue dog, Charlie, on fun adventures.