biographies | james horner plus Rachmaninoff | march 31, April 2, 3 WILLIAM VerMEULEN, horn World-renowned hornist William VerMeulen leads a varied musical life of soloist, orchestral principal, chamber musician, master teacher and music publisher. Since he began his career in 1979 at age 18 with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, he has emerged as America’s leading horn soloist and preeminent teacher. As an orchestral principal, VerMeulen has been Principal Horn of the Houston Symphony since 1990 and has appeared as guest principal with many of the world’s leading orchestras. Equally regarded for orchestral and chamber music performance and teaching, VerMeulen performs at the world’s leading festivals and has taught hundreds of masterclasses worldwide. As professor of horn at Rice University, he is one of the most influential horn teachers of all time with students in most of America’s leading orchestras. More than 260 positions have been offered to his students. He is also brass artist-in-residence at The Glenn Gould School in Toronto and visiting professor of horn at the Eastman School of Music. VerMeulen was awarded the Distinguished Teacher of America Certificate of Excellence by President Reagan and The Commission on Presidential Scholars. Among his dozens of recordings are the Mozart Horn Concerti with Christoph Eschenbach and the Houston Symphony and The Christmas Horn (Summit Records), featuring VerMeulen and his Rice University students, The Rice Horn Crew. He is president of VerMeulen Music, LLC, which provides music and products for horn players.
RICHARD WATKINS, horn Richard Watkins is one of the most sought-after horn players of his generation. Principal horn of the Philharmonia Orchestra for 12 years, he is currently a member of the Nash Ensemble and a founding member of London Winds. Watkins has appeared at many of the world’s most prestigious venues in the UK, Europe and the United States and has worked with leading conductors. His extensive discography includes recordings of horn concertos by Mozart, Malcolm Arnold, Reinhold Glière, Ethel Smyth 40
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and Colin Matthews. Recent releases include a Wigmore Hall Live disc of the Britten Canticles with Mark Padmore, Alexander Goehr’s Horn Trio, Edward Gregson’s Horn Concerto with the BBC Philharmonic and Sea Eagle featuring works by British composers written for Watkins. He has a long association with Aldeburgh Music and is actively involved with the Britten-Pears Young Artist Programme, coaching, recording, directing and giving masterclasses. Watkins actively promotes contemporary music and has performed premieres of concertos by Maxwell-Davies, Osborne, Lindberg, Muldowney, Lefanu, and Colin and David Matthews. Recent premières have included Colin Matthews’ Horn Concerto and Trio; horn quintets by James MacMillan, David Matthews and Mark-Anthony Turnage; and Horn Trios by Huw Watkins, Goehr and Gerald Barry. In recital, he regularly performs with top vocalists and musicians. Richard Watkins holds the Dennis Brain Chair of Horn Playing at the Royal Academy of Music where he is also a Fellow.
ROBERT JOHNSON, horn Robert Johnson enjoys a growing career as an orchestral and chamber musician, soloist and teacher of horn. Before joining the Houston Symphony in 2012 as Associate Principal Horn, he was assistant principal of the Cincinnati S y m p h o n y Orchestra. He has also performed with both the Los Angeles Philharmonic at Walt Disney Concert Hall and The Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra as a guest principal horn. Johnson has performed as soloist with the Houston Symphony, Dayton Philharmonic Orchestra, New World Symphony, Texas Music Festival, Chicago’s Midwest Clinic and nationwide as a recitalist and chamber musician. In the summers, he has performed with the Perlman Music Program and Sun Valley Summer Symphony. In fall 2013, Johnson joined the faculty of the Moores School of Music, University of Houston, as an affiliate artist, fulfilling a long-held dream of expanding his teaching to the collegiate level. Also a faculty member at the Texas Music Festival, he is in demand to lead masterclasses and lectures nationwide, most recently at the Colburn School in Los Angeles. His previous students have enjoyed acceptance and appointment to a multitude of prestigious conservatories, music festivals and professional ensembles. A graduate of Rice University, he studied with William VerMeulen. He is married to flutist and teacher Ariella Perlman, with whom he chases their twin boys, Ezra and Reuben.