“Daniel Hawkins is moving from associate principal horn of the San Francisco Symphony to principal of the Dallas Symphony as of next fall,” writes Susan Elliott in Thursday’s (1/9) Musical America (subscription required). “He succeeds David Cooper, who left in 2017, initially to play with the Berlin Philharmonic and, two years later, with the Chicago Symphony, of which he is now principal…. Hawkins, a native Texan, … studied with former DSO principal Greg Hustis and current second horn, Haley Hoops. The 2022 top prize winner of the International Horn Competition of America, Hawkins holds a masters degree from the Shepherd School of Music; besides the SFS, where he started as utility horn in 2017, he has played with the San Antonio and Houston symphonies … The London Symphony Orchestra also has a new principal horn in 22-year-old AnneMarie Federle, currently in her first season with the Aurora Orchestra in the same job. Federle won the brass category of the 2020 BBC Musician of the Year and served for two years (aged 15 to 17) as principal horn of the National Youth Symphony of Great Britain…. The Metropolitan Opera Orchestra’s new principal horn, Brad Gemeinhardt, has risen through the orchestra’s ranks from utility to his new post. He holds a BM from the Juilliard School where he now teaches in the pre-college division, and has played as guest principal with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and … other major ensembles.”
