Our history
1881
François Lorée, former foreman at Triébert, founded his own oboe company.
1902
Lucien Lorée succeded his father as head of the Maison F.Lorée.
1906
Lucien Lorée created the « conservatory plateau system » with the participation of Georges Gilles – teacher at the Conservatoire de Paris. This system soon became the reference for soloists around the world.
1925
Instrument maker Raymond Dubois acquired the company. Lucien Lorée still took an active part in the production.
1935
Robert de Gourdon, Raymond Dubois’ son-in-law, joined the company and had the opportunity to work closely with Lucien Lorée and Raymond Dubois. He took over the management of the company upon Mr. Dubois’ death in 1957.
1967
Anne and Alain de Gourdon, Robert de Gourdon’s children, joined the company.
1974
Acquisition of the CABART brand, which became a range of student oboes.
1989
Launch of the F.Lorée ROYAL oboe. This oboe is innovative because it is made from thicker wood, giving it a richer sound. It quickly became one of the brand’s most popular models, and remains so to this day.
1992
Launch of the musette oboe (or piccolo oboe) in F.
F.Lorée became the only company to offer all the instruments in the oboe family: piccolo oboe, oboe, oboe d’amore, English horn and bass oboe.
2000-2012
Olivier, Virginie, and then Marie-Léa, Anne and Alain’s children, joined the company one after the other.
2002
The head office was relocated 48 rue de Rome, right at the heart of the music district next to the Conservatoire Régional de Musique de Paris.
2006
To mark the 125th anniversary of the Maison Lorée, the F.Lorée ROYAL 125 oboe was created. This model retains the characteristics of the ROYAL oboe, but also features a massive gold-plated reed well, and gold-plated rings and posts. Originally intended to be a limited edition of 125 pieces, the model was so successful that the company ultimately decided to add it to its range.
2021
To mark the company’s 140th anniversary, F.Lorée launched the 140 model. Based on the traditional Lorée oboe, its bore construction was redesigned to offer great fluidity and flexibilty.
2022
Beginning of our collaboration with oboist Eric Speller, who became a tester for the company. In particular, we worked on developing the Etoile model, which is specifically designed for musicians who play European-style reeds. Our constant research aims to respond even more precisely to our customers’ requests.
