ST. LOUIS — Xiomara Mass, who was appointed second oboe of the Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra earlier this year by Music Director Stéphane Denève, is a finalist in the Gen Y category of the inaugural Virtual Oboe Competition.
Mass, who performed with the SLSO for the past two seasons, is one of six finalists in the Gen Y Division and the only oboist representing the United States in the finals of this global competition.
All competitors had to perform “C.P.E. Bach, Sonata in A minor for solo flute,” I. Poco Adagio, and Gilles Silvestrini, “Russian Study for Oboe No. IV – Hommage à Prokofiev.” Of three choices for her third piece, Mass chose Heinz Holliger, “Oboe Sonata,” movements I and II, over Dirk-Michael Kirsch, Ganymed, movements II-V, and Alyssa Morris, “Collision Etudes No. 1 and 6.”
A native of Puerto Rico, Mass first learned music by watching her mother teach piano. She studied at the Conservatory of Music in San Juan, where she was directed to the flute because the oboe, her first choice, was “too difficult.” When she proved her ability to play oboe, Leila Martinez was her first teacher.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, she has been perfecting her yo-yo skills, mountain biking around St. Louis and playing Mario Kart. She also loves to play basketball and is so afraid of insects that even butterflies scare her, she said, in listing fun facts for the competition’s social media.
