Daniel Hawkins begins as principal horn at the Dallas Symphony Orchestra this fall.
Daniel Hawkins has been named principal horn at the Dallas Symphony Orchestra, beginning on September 1, 2023. Hawkins has held the position of utility horn with the San Francisco Symphony since 2017, serving as associate principal horn for the 2019-20 season. Hawkins previously played with the San Antonio Symphony, Houston Symphony, Shepherd School Symphony Orchestra, Meadows Symphony Orchestra. and Southern Arkansas Symphony. Hawkins won first place in the International Horn Competition of America in 2022; was the award winner of the Music Teacher’s National Association Young Artist Competition in 2014; and won the Meadows School of the Arts Undergraduate and General Concerto Competition in 2012 and 2015. A native of Chandler, Texas, Hawkins began playing the horn at age 11, and studied at Stephen F. Austin State University at age 15. Hawkins studied at the Meadows School of the Arts at Southern Methodist University from 2012-2015, receiving a Bachelor of Music, and continued at the Shepherd School of Music at Rice University, where he received a Master of Music degree. Hawkins’s teachers include DSO Second Horn Haley Hoops, former DSO Principal Horn Greg Hustis, and William VerMeulen at Rice University.
