New musicians at the Boston Symphony Orchestra, from left: Josh Baker, Lorna McGhee, and Toby Grace.
The Boston Symphony Orchestra has announced that, starting with the 2024-25 season, Lorna McGhee has been named principal flute, Josh Baker has been appointed associate principal bassoon, and Toby Grace will join the orchestra as a section percussionist.
Lorna McGhee grew up in Largs, Scotland, and has been the principal flute of the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra since 2012. She has performed as guest principal with Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Minnesota Orchestra, San Francisco Symphony, London Symphony Orchestra, London Philharmonic, Academy of St-Martin-in-the-Fields, and Chamber Orchestra of Europe, and was co-principal flute of London’s BBC Symphony Orchestra. As a concerto soloist, McGhee has appeared with orchestras in the U.S. and internationally. During 2024–25, she will return to the Pittsburgh Symphony as soloist in Rautavaara’s Flute Concerto Dances with the Winds. McGhee will also become a member of the Boston Symphony Chamber Players with other BSO first-chair string and wind players.
Josh Baker has been named associate principal bassoon at the BSO and principal bassoon of the Boston Pops. A native of Boise, Idaho, Baker has been principal bassoonist of the Florida Orchestra since 2018. Prior to that, he served three years as principal bassoon for the Charleston Symphony in South Carolina. A 2013 Tanglewood Music Center Fellow and a 2014 graduate of the New England Conservatory of Music, Baker studied under BSO bassoonists Richard Ranti, who retired as associate principal at the end of the 2022–23 season, and principal Richard Svoboda.
A native of Austin, Texas, percussionist Toby Grace has been a frequent guest performer of the Kansas City Symphony and has performed with the Los Angeles Philharmonic, Omaha Symphony, and Tulsa Symphony. He received his bachelor’s degree from the Juilliard School, where he received a Kovner Fellowship. He earned his master’s degree at the Colburn Conservatory of Music. Grace was a Fellow of the BSO’s Tanglewood Music Center for two summers.
