John Ferrillo. (Courtesy photo)

South Shaker Road resident John Ferrillo, celebrated oboist for the Boston Symphony Orchestra, will perform in Groton next month in John Ferrillo and Friends, a performance presented by Indian Hill Music, a nonprofit regional center for music education and performance in Littleton. The Kalliroscope Gallery will host the Nov. 26 performance, which will include music for oboe and strings by Marcello, Bolcom, and Harbison.

Ferrillo has been the principal oboe of the Boston Symphony Orchestra for seven years and teaches at the New England Conservatory and Boston University. He is a former co-principal oboe of the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra in New York, and a former teacher at the Juilliard School.

Although he loves the grandeur of Symphony Hall, Ferrillo relishes the tight-knit relationships and musical interchange that occur on a smaller scale, such as the Groton venue. In a recent interview he said, “The best orchestral music is reminiscent of chamber music,” and went on to describe chamber-playing as entailing “more responsibility and more flexibility.”

His performance at the Kalliroscope Gallery will showcase chamber music at its best. The accomplished oboist will be joined by a string quintet consisting of Alexander Velinzon, Glenn Cherry, Rebecca Gitter, Mihail Jojatu, and Edwin Barker. Ferrillo said these talented musicians are particularly excited to offer their interpretation of Concerto in C minor for Oboe and Strings, by 18th-century Italian composer Benedetto Marcello. Ferrillo called Marcello’s time-honored piece “one of the most beautiful of the baroque concertos,” and said Bach loved it so much that he wrote an elaboration, designed for the harpsichord. Nineteenth- and 20th-century oboists rediscovered the piece and were struck by its beauty, as well as its applicability to their double-reeded instrument.

Ferrillo has very early memories of being inspired by classical music. He remembers wanting “to make my ideas and feelings known” as a young student of music. This impulse carried him to the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia. The oboist offered an affectionate summary of the rich musical lineage he is proud to call his own. He studied under John DeLancie, a renowned oboist and teacher, who was in turn a student of Marcel Tabuteau, who himself studied under the legendary Georges Gillet at the Paris Conversatory. Tabuteau emigrated to America from France in the early 20th century, bringing with him a playing style whose resonance flexibility would have an immeasurable influence on the American study of the oboe. Ferrillo described the Curtis Institute as a true “time capsule.” Clearly, he reveres the great innovators in classical music and the oboe, and sees himself as a grateful inheritor of their legacy.

Looking toward the future, Ferrillo spoke of the classical music universe with hope, some sadness, and many fascinating nuggets of information. Currently, a “great passing of the guard” appears to be taking place among symphony orchestras across the United States, he said, and principal oboe players who learned under such past masters as Tabuteau are going into retirement. There is suddenly a wealth of opportunities for eager conservatory oboists. Ferrillo said he is thrilled at the exciting possibilities this generational shift may offer. However, he is worried that classical music has lost the wide fan base it enjoyed in an earlier age and that it is becoming too academic. Most well-educated Americans know little about classical music, he said—a sharp difference from a century ago, when classical music played a major role in entertainment and society, and classical musicians sometimes enjoyed the fame and notoriety of today’s rock stars.

Ferrillo readily admitted that a professional oboist’s life is one of fierce competition and high stress. He recounted an experience of spending months preparing for the “Oboe Concerto” by Richard Strauss, a piece that includes a 57-measure solo widely regarded to be one of the most challenging solos for the oboe. The pressure to submit an exquisite performance, with so many worthy musicians vying for a coveted spot in a symphony orchestra, is enormous. Beyond practice there is preparation, Ferrillo said. Few laymen appreciate the importance of craftsmanship to high-level woodwind musicians. Preparing reeds for his instrument—which involves gouging, shaping, folding, tying on, and scraping lengths of cane—takes at least as much time as playing. He is anxious about his own two daughters, promising classical musicians both, as they approach an age where they will have to devote more and more of themselves to their craft. An insider, he is well aware of the pitfalls as well as the thrills offered by this demanding and prestigious career.

Ferrillo is an oboist who is strongly connected to the history of his discipline and who also cherishes the bond he is able to build with his contemporaries. John Ferrillo and Friends offers ample proof that he is deeply invested in the future. Indian Hill Music played an integral role in his own daughters’ musical education, and by serving more than 1,500 students annually, the school continues to make musical dreams possible for the next generation.

John Ferrillo and Friends will appear Sunday, Nov. 16, at 3 p.m. at the Kalliroscope Gallery, 264 Main St. in Groton. Tickets are $25 and include a wine and cheese reception with the artists. For more information call 978-486-9524, ext. 116 or visit www.indianhillmusic.org.