Gordon Hunt was born in London and studied with Terence MacDonagh. He performs throughout the world as soloist and conductor, directs master classes, and plays with renowned chamber ensembles. He has a distinguished orchestral career as Principal Oboe of the Oxford Philharmonic and London Chamber Orchestras, and formerly for many years, of the Philharmonia and London Philharmonic Orchestras. He is also Principal Oboe of the World Orchestra for Peace. He plays an XM oboe by Howarth of London.

Regarded as one of the world’s leading oboists, he has appeared as soloist with conductors such as Ashkenazy, Sir Andrew Davis, Giulini, Kondrashin, Muti, Sir John Pritchard, Sir Simon Rattle, Sinopoli and Welser-Möst. A critic wrote of a performance of the Mozart Oboe Concerto in Berlin “With his crystal clear, aristocratic tone, he undoubtedly ranks as one of the greatest exponents of his instrument”. Over more than five decades he has performed concertos and chamber music on six continents. In 2005 he played the Adagio from Albinoni’s D minor concerto at the Service of Dedication and Prayer to celebrate the marriage of King Charles and Queen Camilla. In 2008 he was soloist with the Mormon Tabernacle Choir, televised live to thirty million homes across the world.

Gordon Hunt has recorded a wide range of music for BMG, EMI and Virgin, including all of Mozart’s solo and chamber music. His recording of the Richard Strauss Concerto with the Berlin Radio Symphony Orchestra and Vladimir Ashkenazy (Decca) was named the finest version by the Penguin CD Guide. He has made many recordings for BIS, including “elevazione”, a very successful disc of popular concertos, which he also directed. He appears on twenty-six solo and chamber music CDs and is the original “Gabriel’s Oboe” in Ennio Morricone’s music for the 1986 film “The Mission”.

As a conductor, Gordon Hunt is widely known. He was Music Director of the Danish Chamber Players and the Swedish Chamber Winds. He has conducted orchestras in South Africa, the Swedish Chamber Orchestra, Norrköping Symphony Orchestra, Aalborg Symphony Orchestra, Danish Radio Sinfonietta, New Zealand Symphony Orchestra, Auckland Philharmonia, Christchurch Symphony Orchestra, and the Philharmonia and Southbank Sinfonia in London. He has also worked in Georgia, and in the Budapest Spring Festival. He has recently conducted in Brazil, Madeira, Thailand and Finland.

He has for some time been a member of the faculty for two prestigious festivals – TMAF in Taiwan, and FEMUSC in Brazil.

Gordon Hunt is Professor at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, Honorary Associate of the Royal Academy of Music and is much in demand from students and professionals worldwide. He is a member of the jury for the International Oboe Competition of Japan. In 2010 he was designated a UNESCO Artist for Peace, and in 2024 was appointed an Honorary Member of the International Double Reed Society.

Outside of music, he is passionate about nature and the environment, and fly fishing for trout and salmon.