Did you ever think of playing oboe when you were a child? Probably not; in fact, it’s pretty much impossible for a child to play a standard oboe, with its complicated mechanics and steep lung requirements. My sister is an oboist in Kristiansand symfoniorkester, and on a crusade to recruit new oboists – because orchestras of the world struggle to find them. Marion’s found tiger oboes, oboes specially designed so children as young as six can play them, and she’s just starting up the first ever kids’ oboe class at the Kristiansand kulturskole. Being a performer and story-teller at heart, Marion has decided the black and yellow striped kids’ oboes are clearly relatives of tigers – and so she’s written a story about how the oboe got its stripes, and has even struck a deal with the zoo where the young oboists get to play music for the tigers and visit the zoo regularly.

Marion Walker photographed by Fedrelandsvennen

So far there are no hits on google for tiger oboe, but if Marion has her way that will definitely change. Here she is in on NRK S¯rlandet at the launch – at the zoo, playing for a tiger, of course!


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2 thoughts on “tiger oboes

  1. […] I read it here. […]

  2. J. Nathan Matias

    As an orchestral musician, I think this is fabulous!

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Academics in Norway: Sign this petition asking for research-based discussions of how to use AI in universities

I just signed a petition calling for Norwegian universities to use research expertise on AI when deciding how to implement it, rather than having decisions be made mostly administratively. ,  If you are a researcher in Norway, please read it and sign it if you agree – and share with anyone else who might be interested. The petition was written by three researchers at UiT: Maria Danielsen (a philosopher who completed her PhD in 2025 on AI and ethics, including discussions of art and working life), Knut Ørke (Norwegian as a second language), and Holger Pötzsch (a professor of media studies with many years of research on digital media, video games, disruption, and working life, among other topics).  This is not about preventing researchers from exploring AI methods in their research. It is about not uncritically accepting the hype that everyone must use AI everywhere without critical reflection. It is about not introducing Copilot as the default option in word processors, or training PhD candidates to believe they will fall behind if they do not use AI when writing articles, without proper academic discussion. Changes like these should be knowledge-based and discussed academically, not merely decided administratively, because they alter the epistemological foundations of research. Maria wrote to me a couple of months ago because she had read my opinion piece in Aftenposten in which I called for a strong brake on the use of language models in knowledge work. She was part of a committee tasked with developing UiT’s AI strategy and was concerned because there was so much hype and so few members of the committee with actual expertise in AI. I fully support the petition. There are probably some good uses for AI in research, but the uncritical, hype-driven insistence that we must simply adopt it everywhere is highly risky. There are many researchers in Norway with strong expertise in AI, language, ethics, working life, and culture. We must make use of this expertise. This is also partly about respect for research in the humanities, social sciences, psychology, and law. Introducing AI at universities and university colleges is not merely a technical issue, and perhaps not even primarily a technical one. It concerns much more: philosophy of science, methodological reflection, epistemology, writing, publishing, the working environment, and more. […]

screenshot of Grammarly - main text in the middle, names of experts on the left with reccomendations and on the right more info about the expert review feature
AI and algorithmic culture Teaching

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