CSO hires a new principal horn and a bevy of basses

Tue Sep 12, 2023 at 1:43 pm

By Lawrence A. Johnson

Mark Almond

Five new musicians will join the Chicago Symphony Orchestra next week with the start of the 2023-24 season.

Mark Almond joins the CSO as the new principal horn. The Bolton, England, native was most recently associate principal horn with the San Francisco Symphony. Before his music career, Almond served as a hospital physician with a PhD in immunology and virology from Imperial College, London.   

Also newly appointed are Danny Yehun Kim as assistant principal second violin, and double-basses Ian Hallas, Alexander Horton and Andrew Sommer.

Justin Vibbard will become the CSO’s new principal librarian.

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2 Responses to “CSO hires a new principal horn and a bevy of basses”

  1. Posted Sep 12, 2023 at 8:18 pm by Brad

    Dr. Almond is a good choice because if Muti or one of the other elderly musicians take ill, he’ll be right there to help. I assume that’s why they hired him so rapidly compared to the usual multi-year search for a principal player.

  2. Posted Sep 12, 2023 at 8:56 pm by Robert Levin

    Danny Kim is a fabulous violinist. He studied with Ida Kavafian at the Curtis Institute of Music.

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