Richard King, Horn

2010: Week 4, July 17 - 24

Principal Horn, The Cleveland Orchestra; faculty, Cleveland Institute of Music.

Mr. King joined the Cleveland Orchestra in 1988 as associate principal at the age of 20 and was appointed principal in 1997. Mr. King has been featured numerous times as soloist with The Cleveland Orchestra and has also appeared as soloist with New Zealand's Auckland Philharmonia and the Tokyo Symphony.

A native of Long Island, New York, Mr. King began playing the horn at the age of 9. He briefly attended New York's Juilliard School of Music and subsequently earned a diploma from Philadelphia's Curtis Institute of Music. His primary horn teacher was former Cleveland Orchestra principal Myron Bloom. While at Curtis, he spent summers at the Tanglewood, Spoleto and Schleswig-Holstein music festivals.

An active chamber musician and recitalist, Mr. King performs frequently as a guest at summer festivals and as a member of the Center City Brass Quintet since 1985. Their five recordings on the Chandos label have been met with wide critical acclaim. In addition, he has recently released an album of Schubert Lieder transcribed for horn and piano on Albany Records. Mr. King is also on the faculty of the Kent/Blossom Music Professional training program.

He previously served on the faculties of the Oberlin College Conservatory of Music and Carnegie Mellon University. He plays a Conn 8D French horn and is a clinician for the Conn-Selmer musical instrument company. He was appointed to the CIM faculty in 1995.