Keith Atkinson has been Associate Principal Oboe of the Toronto Symphony Orchestra since 1985. In addition to his symphonic duties, Mr. Atkinson is an active recitalist and chamber musician. He is a founding member of the Meridian Trio which specializes in unusual wind chamber music and has a CD featuring music for flute, oboe and piano. He plays with the Bach Consort which has recorded two CDs of Bach arias and cantatas. He also performs with New Music Concerts in Toronto and Music at Metropolitan United Church, Toronto, and he has played Principal Oboe with the National Arts Centre Orchestra, Ottawa, and the Hamilton Philharmonic. In demand as a teacher and chamber music coach, he is on the faculties of the University of Toronto and the Glenn Gould School of the Royal Conservatory of Music in Toronto, and he has been on the faculty of the National Youth Orchestra of Canada. He is also the woodwind coach for the Toronto Symphony Youth Orchestra.

Raised in Cincinnati, Ohio, Mr. Atkinson began piano studies at age 5, clarinet at age 9, and oboe at age 12. His first oboe teachers included Richard Johnson, William Harrod, and Adrian Gnam. He earned a Bachelor of Music with High Distinction from Indiana University, studying with Jerry Sirucek, and a Master of Music from Northwestern University, where he was a student of Ray Still. While in graduate school, he was Principal Oboe of the Civic Orchestra of Chicago and played extra with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. Upon graduation in 1981, he joined the San Francisco Symphony as Second Oboe.