Born in Paris, Gillet began studying at the
Conservatoire de Paris at the age of 14. His principal teacher at the conservatoire was his uncle, the French oboist
Georges Gillet (1854–1920). At the age of 19 he became principal oboist of the
Lamoureux Orchestra, and at the age of 20 he became principal oboist of the
Paris Opera. He remained at that post until the outbreak of
World War I. During the war he served as a pilot in the
French Air Force. In 1925 Gillet moved to the United States to become principal oboist of the Boston Symphony Orchestra under conductor
Serge Koussevitzky. He served in that post for the next 21 years, notably making several recordings with the orchestra. He became a naturalized United States Citizen on September 11, 1933, through the
United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts, Boston. Beginning September 1942, he joined the faculty at the
New England Conservatory in Boston where he remained for over thirty years. For many years he also concurrently taught on the faculties at the
Conservatoire de musique du Québec à Montréal and
Boston University. He continued to teach up into the last years of his life. His notable pupils included
Robert Freeman,
Eugene Lacritz,
Jean Northrup,
Pierre Rolland,
Raymond Toubman, and
Allan Vogel. On Freeman's inauguration in 1973 as director of the Eastman School, Gillet was awarded an honorary DMA degree. == References ==