Titus Underwood

Principal Oboe of the Nashville Symphony Orchestra, Titus Underwood is an Emmy Award-winner and a 2021 recipient of the Sphinx Medal of Excellence Award.

Prior to his time with the Nashville Symphony Orchestra, Underwood was Acting Associate Principal of Utah Symphony. He has performed as guest principal of Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, Miami Symphony Orchestra and Florida Orchestra. In addition, he has played with the Los Angeles Philharmonic, the Atlanta Symphony, the Puerto Rico Symphony and the San Diego Symphony. Underwood has also played principal in Chineke!, Gateways Music Festival, Lakes Area Music Festival, Intercultural Music Initiative and Bellingham Festival of Music.

Underwood has been teaching music lessons and classes, as well as coaching chamber music, since he was a student at Cleveland Institute of Music in 2006. He has maintained a private studio and taught in pre-college programs at Cleveland Institute of Music, Juilliard and the National Youth Orchestras program at Carnegie Hall. He has taught in the Nashville Symphony’s Accelerando program since 2017, and he teaches and mentors for the National Alliance for Audition Support program maintained by the League of American Orchestras, The Sphinx Organization and New World Symphony. With Weston Sprott, Underwood also co-initiated and co-designed the Sphinx Orchestral Partners Auditions (SOPA) Excerpt Competition.

Underwood received his Master of Music from the Juilliard School, where he studied with Elaine Douvas, and completed additional studies with Nathan Hughes and Pedro Diaz. He earned his Bachelor of Music at the Cleveland Institute of Music where he studied with John Mack, Frank Rosenwein and Jeff Rathbun. In 2013, he received his Artist Diploma from the Colburn School with Allan Vogel. Additional teachers include Anne Marie Gabriele, Robert Atherholt and Joseph Robinson.