PRINCIPAL
Gray Charitable Trust Chair
Grammy Award-winner Jennifer Montone has been hailed by the New York Times for her “flawless horn solos … and warm and noble sound.” As principal horn of The Philadelphia Orchestra, and a world acclaimed soloist, chamber musician, and teacher, she has been on the faculty of the Curtis Institute of Music and the Juilliard School since joining the Orchestra in 2006.
Previously the principal horn of the St. Louis Symphony and associate principal horn of the Dallas Symphony, Ms. Montone was an adjunct professor at Southern Methodist University and performer/faculty at the Aspen Music Festival and School. She currently coaches on occasion at the New World Symphony. She was third horn of the New Jersey Symphony from 1997 to 2000, and she has performed as a guest artist with the Berlin Philharmonic, the Cleveland Orchestra, the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra, the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra, the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, and the New York Philharmonic.
Ms. Montone regularly performs as a soloist with such orchestras as The Philadelphia Orchestra, with which she made her solo debut in 2010; the St. Louis Symphony; the Dallas Symphony; the National Symphony; the Polish National Radio Symphony; the Warsaw National Philharmonic; and the Curtis Institute of Music Orchestra, among others. Her recording of the Penderecki Horn Concerto (“Winterreise”) with the Warsaw National Philharmonic won a 2013 Grammy Award in the category of “Best Classical Compendium.” Her other recordings include Jennifer Montone Performs, her first solo CD; Still Falls the Rain, works of Benjamin Britten; Gabrieli with the National Brass Ensemble; The Philadelphia Orchestra’s Tchaikovsky and Ewald, featuring the Orchestra’s principal brass quintet; and Song of Shinobeu, works of Haruka Watanabe.
Ms. Montone made her Weil Concert Hall solo recital debut in October 2008. She has appeared as a featured artist at many International Horn Society workshops, and as a soloist and collaborator with such artists as pianist Emanuel Ax, bass Eric Owens, pianist Christoph Eschenbach, violinist Shmuel Ashkenasi, violinist Joseph Silverstein, and cellist David Soyer, among many others.
As a chamber musician Ms. Montone performs with the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, the Philadelphia Chamber Music Society, the Santa Fe Chamber Music Festival, the National Brass Ensemble, the Strings Music Festival in Steamboat Springs, the Bravo! Vail Chamber Music Festival, the Lake Champlain Chamber Music Festival, the La Jolla Chamber Music Festival, the Bay Chamber Concerts, the Spoleto Italy Chamber Music Festival, and the Marlboro Music Festival.
Ms. Montone is a graduate of the Juilliard School, where she studied with Julie Landsman, pedagogue and former principal horn of the Metropolitan Opera. In May 2006 Ms. Montone was awarded the prestigious Avery Fisher Career Grant. She is also the winner of the 1996 Paxman Young Horn Player of the Year Award in London. A native of northern Virginia, Ms. Montone studied with Edwin Thayer, principal horn of the National Symphony, as a fellow in the Symphony’s Youth Fellowship Program. She is married to double bass player Timothy Ressler and immensely enjoys spending time with her two young sons, Max and Felix.
Photo by Jessica Griffin