Hornist Jesse McCormick has garnered national attention as a leader amongst the new generation of American horn players. McCormick’s current post is second horn in the internationally renowned, Grammy Award-winning Cleveland Orchestra, a position he has held since 2006. On tour with The Cleveland Orchestra, McCormick regularly performs to sold-out audiences in New York’s Carnegie Hall, Vienna’s Musikverein, Miami’s Arsht Center for the Performing Arts and dozens of other concert halls throughout North America, Europe, and Asia. In addition to his dynamic career as an orchestral musician, McCormick is a sought-after soloist, educator, and chamber musician.
On New Year’s Eve 2013, McCormick appeared on the nationally-televised PBS series “Live from Lincoln Center” where he performed Ravel’s “Bolero” as guest associate principal horn with the New York Philharmonic. Prior to joining The Cleveland Orchestra, McCormick served three seasons as fourth horn with the Colorado Symphony and two seasons as second horn with The Denver Brass.
McCormick demonstrated his virtuosity as a soloist at an early age. McCormick made his international solo debut at age 16 when he performed at the 1998 International Horn Symposium in Banff, Canada after winning the Jon Hawkins Scholarship competition. He subsequently took top prize in the professional division at the 2005 International Horn Competition of America. McCormick has made solo appearances with The Denver Brass; Windworks Ensemble in Capetown, South Africa; and the Chamber Orchestra of Colorado Springs. In 2011, he performed Mozart's “Quintet for Horn and Strings” at a private event hosted by Raiffeisenlandes Bank at Schuetzeneder Castle in Linz, Austria.
He views teaching as an integral part of his career and has been on faculty at the Baldwin Wallace University Conservatory since 2007. On numerous occasions, he has lectured at the Cleveland Institute of Music and Case Western Reserve University. Within recent years, McCormick has been a clinician at the University of Denver, University of Miami, University of Nebraska, Illinois State University, University of Memphis, Kent State University, University of Wyoming and the Raphael Mendez Brass Institute. He has also had the distinct pleasure of teaching masterclasses in Seoul, Korea and Capetown, South Africa.
McCormick actively pursues the advancement of horn pedagogy. In 2008, McCormick and his mother, fellow hornist Susan McCullough, co-hosted the 40th annual International Horn Symposium at University of Denver's Lamont School of Music. The Symposium featured world-renowned artists in their diverse capacities as performers, lecturers, and clinicians. The Symposium set record attendance. Additionally, McCormick acted as a contributing artist at the 2008 and 2013 International Horn Symposia. He is currently on faculty at Kendall Betts Horn Camp. As an avid chamber musician and recitalist, McCormick performs at public concerts and private donor events for The Cleveland Orchestra. McCormick routinely performs on recitals at Cleveland Institute of Music and Baldwin Wallace University Conservatory. He is currently a member of the Factory Seconds Brass Trio with fellow Cleveland Orchestra members Rick Stout and Jack Sutte.
He is a Conn-Selmer Artist, and he performs exclusively on a Conn 8D. You can hear McCormick on many recent recordings of The Cleveland Orchestra, including the Grammy Award-winning recording of Mozart’s Piano Concertos Nos. 23 and 24 with Mitsuko Uchida on the Decca label. Other recordings include “It’s All Relative” in 2008, featuring Jesse McCormick and Susan McCullough, and “Chamber Music for Horn” in 2012, featuring McCormick and The Cleveland Orchestra's principal horn Richard King performing Beethoven’s “Sextet for Two Horns and Strings.”
McCormick began his studies on horn with Sally Ann Wilson in Colorado Springs, Colorado and went on to study at The Juilliard School with Jerome Ashby.
