John Paul Cerminaro, Jr. (born April 7, 1947) is an American

horn Horn most often refers to: *Horn (acoustic), a conical or bell shaped aperture used to guide sound ** Horn (instrument), collective name for tube-shaped wind musical instruments *Horn (anatomy), a pointed, bony projection on the head of various ...

player who is best known for his principal tenures with two notable American orchestras, the

New York Philharmonic The New York Philharmonic, officially the Philharmonic-Symphony Society of New York, Inc., globally known as New York Philharmonic Orchestra (NYPO) or New York Philharmonic-Symphony Orchestra, is a symphony orchestra based in New York City. It is ...

and the

Los Angeles Philharmonic The Los Angeles Philharmonic, commonly referred to as the LA Phil, is an American orchestra based in Los Angeles, California. It has a regular season of concerts from October through June at the Walt Disney Concert Hall, and a summer season at th ...

. He was later principal horn of the

Seattle Symphony Orchestra The Seattle Symphony is an American orchestra based in Seattle, Washington. Since 1998, the orchestra is resident at Benaroya Hall. The orchestra also serves as the accompanying orchestra for the Seattle Opera. History Beginnings The orchestra ...

Early life

Cerminaro was born in Grimes County,

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...

, to John and Frances (Felder) Cerminaro, both public school music educators. He was raised in

Dallas Dallas () is the List of municipalities in Texas, third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of metropolitan statistical areas, fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 ...

, where he studied horn with Alfred Resch. His solo debut performance came with the

Dallas Symphony Orchestra The Dallas Symphony Orchestra (DSO) is an American orchestra based in Dallas, Texas. Its principal performing venue is the Morton H. Meyerson Symphony Center in the Arts District of downtown Dallas. History The orchestra traces its origins to a ...

at the age of 16. Following his graduation from Sunset High School in Dallas, Cerminaro studied at the

Juilliard School The Juilliard School ( ) is a private performing arts conservatory in New York City. Established in 1905, the school trains about 850 undergraduate and graduate students in dance, drama, and music. It is widely regarded as one of the most el ...

, where he was awarded an Elsie and Walter W. Naumburg Scholarship. He was a student and later faculty member at the

Aspen Music Festival The Aspen Music Festival and School (AMFS) is a classical music festival held annually in Aspen, Colorado. It is noted both for its concert programming and the musical training it offers to mostly young-adult music students. Founded in 1949, the ...

Career

In 1969 Cerminaro joined the New York Philharmonic under

Leonard Bernstein Leonard Bernstein ( ; August 25, 1918 – October 14, 1990) was an American conductor, composer, pianist, music educator, author, and humanitarian. Considered to be one of the most important conductors of his time, he was the first America ...

. Other conductors he played under in New York include

Erich Leinsdorf Erich Leinsdorf (born Erich Landauer; February 4, 1912 – September 11, 1993) was an Austrian-born American conductor. He performed and recorded with leading orchestras and opera companies throughout the United States and Europe, earning a ...

Zubin Mehta Zubin Mehta (born 29 April 1936) is an Indian conductor of Western classical music. He is music director emeritus of the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra (IPO) and conductor emeritus of the Los Angeles Philharmonic. Mehta's father was the foun ...

and

Pierre Boulez Pierre Louis Joseph Boulez (; 26 March 1925 – 5 January 2016) was a French composer, conductor and writer, and the founder of several musical institutions. He was one of the dominant figures of post-war Western classical music. Born in Mont ...

. In 1979 he accepted an offer from conductor

Carlo Maria Giulini Carlo Maria Giulini (; 9 May 1914 – 14 June 2005) was an Italian conductor. From the age of five, when he began to play the violin, Giulini's musical education was expanded when he began to study at Italy's foremost conservatory, the Conserva ...

to join the Los Angeles Philharmonic; he performed there under the baton of

André Previn André George Previn (; born Andreas Ludwig Priwin; April 6, 1929 – February 28, 2019) was a German-American pianist, composer, and conductor. His career had three major genres: Hollywood films, jazz, and classical music. In each he achieved ...

as well. During Cerminaro's time in Los Angeles, many new compositions were written for him, including works by

William Schuman William Howard Schuman (August 4, 1910February 15, 1992) was an American composer and arts administrator. Life Schuman was born into a Jewish family in Manhattan, New York City, son of Samuel and Rachel Schuman. He was named after the 27th U.S. ...

William Kraft William Kraft (September 6, 1923 – February 12, 2022) was an American composer, conductor, teacher, timpanist, and percussionist. Biography Early life and education (1923–1954) Kraft was born in Chicago, Illinois. He was awarded two Anton Seid ...

Rand Steiger Rand Steiger (born June 18, 1957, in New York City) is an American composer, conductor, and pedagogue. Steiger attended the Manhattan School of Music and the California Institute of the Arts, where he became a faculty member in 1982. In 1987, he j ...

, and

Henri Lazarof Henri Lazarof (Bulgarian: Хенри Лазаров) (April 12, 1932 – December 29, 2013) was a Bulgarian-American composer. Born in Sofia, Bulgaria, his formal musical training began in Israel under Paul Ben-Haim. After a short stint in Rome, ...

. His tenure as principal horn in Seattle began in 1996 and ended in 2011. Cerminaro has been guest principal horn with a number of orchestras, including the Dallas Symphony,

Milwaukee Symphony The Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra (MSO) is an American symphony orchestra based in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The orchestra performs primarily at the Bradley Symphony Center in Allen-Bradley Hall. The orchestra also serves as the orchestra for Florentine ...

, and

Houston Symphony The Houston Symphony is an American orchestra based in Houston, Texas. The orchestra is resident at the Jesse H. Jones Hall for the Performing Arts. History The first concert of what was to become the Houston Symphony took place on June 21, 1 ...

Orchestras. Cerminaro is a member of the

International Horn Society The International Horn Society (IHS) is an international organization dedicated to players of the Brass instrument, horn founded in June 1970 with a goal to promote horn playing, education and fellowship. A community of over 3500 members from 55 ...

and has contributed various articles to its periodical, ''The Horn Call''.Writings – French Horn Musician Artist John Cerminaro Seattle Symphony Orchestra New York Philharmonic Los Angeles Philharmonic
/ref> He is married to Charlotte Lambert Cerminaro, who is also a professional horn player.

References

External links

John Cerminaro's Websit

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cerminaro, John Living people 1947 births American classical horn players Aspen Music Festival and School alumni Aspen Music Festival and School faculty Juilliard School alumni Musicians from Dallas Educators from Texas Classical musicians from Texas