Erik Ralske

Erik Ralske was appointed by Maestro James Levine as Principal Horn of the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra beginning with the 2010-2011 season. On July 6, 2010 he was featured in a front-page article in the New York Times for having won both the Met Opera position and the Los Angeles Philharmonic Principal Horn position in the same week!

Brad Gemeinhardt

Brad Gemeinhardt, 3rd Horn of the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra, has performed in a broad range of classical and commercial settings, including performances as guest Principal horn with both the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and the New York Philharmonic. He has also performed with the San Francisco Symphony, Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, American Symphony Orchestra, Orchestra of St. Luke’s, many Broadway shows, television and radio jingles, commercial recordings, and motion picture soundtracks.

Anne Marie Scharer

Anne Marie Scharer has been playing horn in the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra since the 1997-1998 season. She was appointed to second horn by James Levine in 2016. Previously she played third horn for thirteen seasons and fourth horn for six seasons. Anne was born and raised in Madison, Wisconsin and went on to study music at Indiana University and The Juilliard School. Her first professional orchestral position was in Oviedo, Spain as co-principal horn. In 1994 she returned to the United States and played associate principal/third horn with the Columbus Symphony for three years before joining the Met. In addition to her work with the Opera, she teaches horn at Interlochen Center for the Arts and records for commercial and movie soundtracks.

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Barbara Jöstlein Currie

Barbara Jöstlein Currie joined the Met Orchestra in 1998, as assistant horn. A year later, she won the 4th horn position, which she has held since. Growing up in Chicago and studying with former CSO musicians Phil Farkas and Nancy Fako, she left for New York to study with former Met Principal Horn, Julie Landsman, at the Juilliard School with a full scholarship. During her studies, she took a year off to play third and associate horn with the Jerusalem Symphony Orchestra in Israel.

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Rex Surany

Rex Surany is the Principal Bassist of The Metropolitan Opera in New York City. He is also a professor of classical double bass performance at The Juilliard School. His musical education began with piano lessons when he was 7 years old. After two years, he switched exclusively to the double bass with Robert Peterson of Trenton, New Jersey. In 2002, upon completing the Vance Progressive Repertoire with Peterson, Rex Surany proceeded to study Rabbath Method with Nicholas Walker, professor of double bass at Ithaca College, and joined the Philadelphia Youth Orchestra under the direction of maestro Joseph Primavera.

Leigh Mesh

Leigh Mesh, Associate Principal Bass, joined the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra in 1993. A graduate of the Curtis Institute of Music, he has taught master classes at the New World Symphony in Miami, the Cincinnati Conservatory, the Juilliard School and the Manhattan School of Music. Mr. Mesh has performed regularly at the Verbier Music Festival, and with the MET Chamber Ensemble, the Caramoor Virtuosi, and the Brentano and Tokyo String Quartets. He lives with his wife and two children in New York, and pursues cycling and skiing whenever he can. Mr. Mesh is an exclusive artist for Thomastik-Infeld Strings.

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Brendan Kane

Double Bassist Brendan Kane has performed extensively throughout North America, South America, Europe, Asia and Australia. Originally from Stillwater, Minnesota, Mr. Kane joined the bass section of the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra in the Fall of 2014. Prior to his appointment at the Met, Mr. Kane held the positions of Assistant Principal Bass of the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra and Principal Bass of the Minas Gerias Philharmonic Orchestra in Brazil. He is also a former member of the New World Symphony in Miami Beach and regularly appears around the world as Principal Bass of the Verbier Festival Chamber Orchestra.

Kingsley Wood

Kingsley J. Wood has been a member of the Met Orchestra since 2001. He was formerly a member of the Louisville Orchestra. Kingsley graduated from Peabody Conservatory where he studied with John Hood and is originally from Palo Alto, CA.

Elaine Douvas

Elaine Douvas has been Principal Oboe of the Metropolitan Opera since 1977, highlighted by her performance of the Strauss Oboe Concerto with Maestro Levine the MET Orchestra at Carnegie Hall in 2004 and many performances with the MET Chamber Ensemble. She has served on the oboe faculty of The Juilliard School since 1982 and was appointed Woodwind Department Chairman in 1997. She has given master classes at the Curtis and Cleveland Institutes of Music, the Eastman and Manhattan Schools of Music, the New World Symphony, and the Conservatories of Beijing, Shanghai, and London’s Royal Academy of Music. In the summers, Ms. Douvas is an artist/faculty member of the Aspen Music Festival and School, and she is a past participant in the Marlboro, Grand Teton, Angel Fire, and Bravo! Colorado Festivals. Her solo CDs are issued by Boston Records, Oboe Classics, and Music Minus One. Having trained at the Cleveland Institute of Music and the Interlochen Arts Academy, her first job was Principal Oboe of the Atlanta Symphony under Robert Shaw. For the past 20 years she has devoted her spare time to figure skating and has passed eleven USFSA tests in free-style and “moves”. This season’s non-Met project is the Messiaen “Concerto a Quatre” with her quartet “Pleasure is the Law” and the New York Youth Symphony at Carnegie Hall on March 2, 2014.

Susan Spector

Susan Spector has served as Second Oboist of the MET Orchestra since the fall of 1992. She has also performed with the Philadelphia Orchestra and the Boston Symphony and served as Principal Oboe of the Spokane Symphony and Wheeling Symphony. In 1995, Ms. Spector performed in Geneva, Switzerland, at the invitation of Sir Georg Solti, as part of the “Orchestra for Peace”, in a performance commemorating the fiftieth anniversary of the United Nations. Ms. Spector studied with Richard Woodhams, John deLancie and Rhadames Angelucci; she holds Bachelor and Master of Music degrees from Wichita State University and Temple University, respectively. Ms. Spector served as a classical music announcer at NPR stations KMUW in Wichita and KPBX in Spokane. An avid Mets fan, Ms. Spector contributes regular posts about her team to her blog, Perfect Pitch. She resides in Leonia, New Jersey, with her husband, Garry, and daughter, Melanie.

Pedro Díaz

Before being named Solo English Horn with the Orchestra of the Metropolitan Opera in 2005, Pedro Díaz had performed extensively on five continents. He has served extended tenures as oboe and/or English horn with the Filarmonica Jalisco (Mexico), the Orquesta Sinfonica de Galicia (Spain), the Natal Philharmonic (South Africa) and the Pittsburgh Opera. His appearances as soloist include those at the Spoleto (Italy) Festival, with the New York Symphonic Ensemble (Japan tour), The Orquesta Sinfónica de Xalapa and with the Puerto Rico Symphony. Two solo appearences at the International Double Reed Society’s conventions, one of them the performance of Michael Daugherty’s “Spaghetti Western.”

Stephanie Mortimore

Stephanie Mortimore has held the position of Principal Piccolo with the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra since 2000. During the 2008-09 season, she served as Acting Principal Flute. Ms. Mortimore has won numerous distinctions, including first prize in the Myrna Brown Competition, the James Pappoutsakis Competition and the Union League Civic and Arts Foundation Competition. She can be heard on three Grammy Award winning recordings with the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra. An active recitalist and sought-after teacher, Ms. Mortimore has given numerous concerts and masterclasses in New York, Chicago, Boston, Dallas, and in her native state of Wisconsin. She has performed as a soloist with the Dallas Chamber Orchestra and will be giving the world premiere of Daniel Felsenfeld’s double piccolo concerto in Spring 2015 with Ensemble 212.

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Koren McCaffrey

Koren McCaffrey is an Associate Musician with the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra. Performing with the Met Opera since 2007, she appears regularly with both the Met Orchestra and Met Chamber Ensemble at Carnegie Hall, and on the Met Opera’s Live in HD and radio broadcasts. In June 2011, Koren toured Japan with the Met Opera. In addition to the flute, Koren is an avid piccoloist, and can be heard on the Met’s Grammy Award Winning recordings of Adams’ Doctor Atomic and Wagner’s Das Ring des Nibelungen. As a member of both the Verbier Festival Orchestra and Verbier Chamber Orchestra, Koren toured over fifteen countries on four continents. In addition to the Verbier Festival, she has also performed at the Spoleto (U.S.) and Aspen Music Festivals, and Festival Mosaic in San Luis Obispo. Koren is a graduate of the University of Michigan and the Manhattan School of Music.

Demian Austin

Demian Austin is principal trombonist of the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra. He is also a member of the MET Chamber Ensemble, which performs regularly at Carnegie’s Weill and Zankel halls. He has performed with The Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, and in the Mostly Mozart festival at Lincoln Center. Mr. Austin has played on numerous recordings including the Metropolitan Opera Brass CDs, several movie soundtracks, Dialogues with Double Bass with Jeremy McCoy on Bridge Records, the GM Recordings issue of Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony and Brahms’ First Symphony conducted by Gunther Schuller, and many recordings with the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra, including Strauss’ Tod und Verklarung. He can also be heard regularly on Sirius Satellite Radio’s Live at the Met Broadcasts, the Saturday Matinee Broadcasts of the Met, and on The Met: Live in HD worldwide movie simulcasts. Mr. Austin is also on the faculty of Juilliard’s precollege division. He received his Bachelor of Music degree in 1992 from Oberlin College, where he studied with Raymond Premru, and his Masters of Music degree in 1995 from The Juilliard School, where he studied with Per Brevig. Aside from his career in music, Mr. Austin has a keen interest in film and has attended several intensive seminars on screenwriting.

John Romero

John Romero is the Principal Trombonist of the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra, beginning in 2018, and is an S.E. Shires Performing Artist. He previously held the same position in the Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra. A local of Longview, Texas, he has a Bachelor’s Degree in Music Performance from Baylor University studying with Brent Phillips and a Master of Music degree from Rice University studying under Allen Barnhill. Romero is an active soloist and clinician, presenting recitals and masterclasses at the International Trombone Festival, the Blast of Brass Festival, the Juilliard School, and other universities. As a student, he was a successful solo and chamber music competitor, winning the Larry Wiehe competition in 2012 at the annual International Trombone Festival in Paris, France, as well as ITF’s Marstallar competition in 2013, the Big XII Trombone Conference Tenor Competition, Eastern Trombone Workshop’s Division II Tenor Competition, the ETW Quartet competition, the TCU Quartet Competition, and Baylor University’s Concerto competition.

Weston Sprott

Weston Sprott enjoys an exciting career that includes orchestral, chamber, and solo performances, as well as numerous educational and outreach efforts. He is Dean of the Preparatory Division at The Juilliard School and a trombonist in New York’s Metropolitan Opera Orchestra, of which he has been a member since 2005. He has been recognized as “an excellent trombonist” with a “sense of style and phrasing [that] takes a backseat to no one”. He is a recipient of the Sphinx Medal of Excellence and the Atlanta Symphony Talent Development Program Aspire Award. Sprott has performed frequently with the Philadelphia Orchestra, held a position with the Zurich Opera/Philharmonia, and has appeared with numerous other major orchestras, including the New York Philharmonic, Atlanta Symphony, and Oslo Philharmonic. He previously held principal positions with the Pennsylvania Ballet Orchestra and the Delaware Symphony Orchestra. His chamber music and festival engagements include the Stellenbosch International Chamber Music Fesitval (SICMF), Classical Tahoe, Festival Napa Valley, Walla Chamber Music Festival, Chineke!, PRIZM Ensemble, and numerous others.

Denson Paul Pollard

Denson Paul Pollard began as bass/tenor trombonist/bass trumpet player with the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra in September, 2007. Pollard was the bass trombonist of the Hong Kong Philharmonic from 2001-2007. He has also been bass trombonist of the Civic Orchestra of Chicago, the Cedar Rapids Symphony, the Illinois Symphony Orchestra, the Des Moines Metro Opera Orchestra, and the Principal Trombonist of the Waterloo/Cedar Falls Symphony Orchestra. Pollard has performed with the New York Philharmonic, the Chicago Symphony, the Philadelphia Orchestra, the Houston Symphony Orchestra and the Los Angeles Philharmonic. His teachers have included Dr. Jim Roberts, Dr. David Gier, George Krem, Charles Vernon and Joeseph Alessi. Pollard was awarded the Master of Musical Arts degree and the Doctorate of Musical Arts in performance and pedagogy from the University of Iowa, where he served as a teaching assistant in the areas of musicology, jazz and applied trombone. Pollard also holds a Bachelor of Science degree in music education from Jacksonville State University in Jacksonville, Alabama. Pollard is a member of the brass faculty at the Juilliard School, Mannes School of Music, and Bard College. He is a faculty member of the Pacific Music Festival in Sapporo, Japan during the summer.
 

TRUMPET: September 13

David Krauss

David Krauss joined The Metropolitan Opera Orchestra as Principal Trumpet in 2001 and occupies the Beth W. and Gary A. Glynn endowed chair. He has has performed with James Levine in the MET chamber series at Carnegie Hall and has appeared as guest principal trumpet with the Boston Symphony Orchestra and New York Philharmonic. A native of Long Island, New York, he earned both Bachelor and Master of Music degrees from The Juilliard School as a student of William Vacchiano and Chris Gekker. Prior to joining the MET, he performed with a variety of ensembles in and around New York City, including Orchestra of St. Luke’s, The New York Philharmonic, and several Broadway shows. David co-produced three recordings–Metropolitan Opera Brass, Waltzes, Songs & Festive Scenes and Sacrae Symphoniae.

Billy R. Hunter, Jr.

A native of Austin, Texas, Billy Hunter is currently Principal Trumpet with the Metropolitan Opera in New York and Assistant Principal Trumpet with the Grant Park Symphony Orchestra in Chicago. Before this, he was Principal with the New World Symphony and Spoleto Festival Italy orchestras, and has performed as Guest Principal with the Frankfurt Radio Symphony in Germany, Malaysian Philharmonic in Kuala Lumpur, and the Charleston Symphony Orchestra. Other orchestras he has performed with are the New York Philharmonic, Boston, Baltimore, and Dallas Symphonies. As a chamber musician and soloist Mr. Hunter has performed with several ensembles and music festivals including Grant Park Orchestra, New World Symphony, University of Texas Symphony and Wind Ensemble, Prometheus Chamber Orchestra, Eastern Music Festival and the MET Chamber Ensemble.

James Ross

Trumpeter James Ross joined the Metropolitan Opera in 1994. Previously, he was PrincipalTtrumpet of the Vancouver Opera Orchestra and a frequent performer with the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra and the CBC Radio Orchestra. His freelance activities have included performances as Principal Trumpet at Tanglewood with the Orchestra of St. Luke’s, and concerts with the New York-based chamber orchestra, Orpheus. He has been a guest of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, St. Louis Symphony, and was a member of the NY Philharmonic. Mr. Ross attended the University of British Columbia, St. Louis Conservatory, and the Cleveland Institute of Music.

Raymond Riccomini

Raymond Riccomini, trumpet, joined the Metropolitan Opera orchestra in 2004. Prior to this, Raymond frequently performed, toured and recorded with the New York Philharmonic, including as guest Principal trumpet. He has also held the positions of second trumpet in the New Jersey Symphony and Principal trumpet of the Hudson Valley Philharmonic. Raymond was a founding member of the Manhattan Brass Quintet and was a winner in the 1993 Fischoff Chamber music competition. In 2006, Raymond performed as Principal trumpet in Gustav Mahler’s Symphony No. 2 as part of Riverside Church’s 75th Anniversary celebration with members of the Detroit Symphony, New York Philharmonic, Philadelphia Orchestra and Metropolitan Opera orchestra, under the direction of Maestro Neeme Jarvi.

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