Teachers

He was appointed principal trumpet of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra in 2019 by its musical director Riccardo Muti. Previously, he was principal trumpet of the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra and the Granada City Orchestra. He has also performed as a guest principal trumpet with the Royal Seville Symphony Orchestra and the Orchestra del Teatro alla Scala, among others. Currently, he combines his work as a solo trumpet player with teaching in different cities around the world.

Brian Wendel is undoubtedly one of the most important trombonists of today. Despite his youth, he has accumulated extensive professional experience in orchestras such as the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra (VSO), Seattle Symphony, Philadelphia Orchestra, New York Philharmonic, and New York Philharmonic Brass Ensemble, as well as the Cleveland Orchestra where he serves as principal trombonist. Wendel is a disciple of Joseph Alessi at The Juilliard School and is passionate about teaching, serving as a professor at the University of British Columbia (UBC) and conducting masterclasses around the world.

László comes from a family of musicians, where his father and grandfather played the trumpet. Despite this, he decides to play the French horn and arrives in Berlin in 2015 to study at the University of the Arts with Christian Friedrich. He later became an academist in the Staatskapelle orchestra in Berlin. In 2022, László secured the position of French horn in the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra.

Mauro Martins is a young Portuguese euphonium player. He first found his passion for music playing in Symphonic Bands and at the age of 15 he entered EPABI – Professional School of Arts in Covilhã, where he studied euphonium with professors Nuno Machado, Ricardo Antão, and Luís Oliveira, among others. He also studied with Sérgio Carolino and Ricardo Antão at the School of Music and Performing Arts (ESMAE) in Oporto. Currently, he performs as a soloist and teaches classes around the world.

David Griffin is a member of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. After graduating from Northwestern University in 1987, Griffin began his career with the Rochester Philharmonic and later with the orchestras of Montreal and Houston before joining the Chicago Symphony Orchestra in 1995. Griffin was a guest principal horn of the Los Angeles Philharmonic, Saint Louis Symphony, Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra, and Shanghai Radio Orchestra. In September 2017, Griffin traveled to Japan for a solo tour, performing recitals in Tokyo, Nagasaki, and Osaka.

Michael Mulcahy is the principal trombonist of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. Michael Mulcahy works worldwide as a soloist, conductor, and teacher. Sir Georg Solti appointed him a member of CSO in 1989 and previously he was principal trombonist of the orchestras Tasmania Symphony and Melbourne Symphony; as well as solo trombonist of Cologne Radio Symphony Orchestra.

John Hagstrom joined the trumpet section of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra in 1996. A year later, he won the position of second trumpet in the orchestra, continuing the tradition of teamwork in the brass section for which CSO is famous. Previously, he was principal trumpet of Wichita Symphony Orchestra in Kansas and also served as assistant professor of trumpet at Wichita State University.

Gene Pokorny has been principal tuba player for Chicago Symphony Orchestra since 1989. He also held positions as principal tuba player in Israel Philharmonic Orchestra, Utah Symphony Orchestra, Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra and Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra. While in Los Angeles, he played on recordings for soundtracks including Jurassic Park, The Fugitive and many other films.

Originally from Chelva (Spain), Jose Martínez is tuba player for Spain’s National Orchestra, co-founder of Duo2Arts, mentor at “la Caixa” Foundation and ambassador for Chicago Luminarts Cultural Foundation. Jose has been a member of Civic Orchestra of Chicago and collaborator with Boston Symphony and Boston Pops, Chicago Symphony, Gothenburg Symphony, Mahler Chamber Orchestra, Malaysian Philharmonic, Minnesota Orchestra, New York Philharmonic, Orchestre da Suisse Romande, Porto Symphony, Qatar Philharmonic, Saint Louis Symphony , Seattle Symphony , Teatro alla Scala Orchestra and Philharmonic.

He studied at Karlsruhe Music Academy with Reinhold Friedrich. His repertoire ranges from baroque music to modern music and jazz. He has won numerous awards including first prize at Maurice André International Competition and first prize at Prague Spring International Music Competition . Former soloist with NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchester . He premiered many works by Japanese composer Toshio Hosokawa , including “Kiri-no Naka-de”, which won Otaka Prize . Since 2008 he has been a professor at Hanover Music Academy.

Anna Ferriol (Girona) is a horn player for Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra . Since 2017 she has performed as a guest with numerous orchestras including Swedish Chamber Orchestra , Royal Philharmonic , Oslo Philharmonic , Mahler Chamber Orchestra , Royal Opera House (Court Chapel).

In addition to performing , Anna is currently a horn professor at Lilla Akademien in Stockholm and has given masterclasses at ESMUC , Birmingham Royal Conservatoire , Royal Conservatoire Scotland.

Swedish-Swiss trombonist Louise Pollock was appointed trombone professor at Hanns Eisler Berlin Music Academy succeeding Christhard Gössling and Olaf Ott . Louise Pollock was principal trombonist at Gothenburg Opera from 2015 to 2023 while also leading trombone class at Gothenburg University Academy of Music & Drama . Previously she worked for three years with Stuttgart Philharmonic . She performed as a soloist with Düsseldorf Symphony , Bjergsted Blåsensemble , Gothenburg Opera & Duisburg Philharmonic among others.

Adam Rapa is an American trumpet player, composer, arranger and educator. He is a versatile musician who expresses himself as much in the field of jazz, funk or pop as in the classical or contemporary music. Rapa was born and raised in Boston, Massachusetts. He began studying the trumpet at 11 years old and when he was just 18, he was invited to play at jazz clubs in Boston, New York and numerous jazz festivals in the USA or, among others, the Vienna Jazz Festival or the Riverboat Jazz Festival. Adam Rapa gives concerts all over the world both as a soloist and accompanied by a jazz band. He also performs as a teacher for Master Classes, exhibitions or university lessons.