Brass Faculty

Horn

Trombone

Trumpet

Tuba

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Dale Clevenger has been Principal Horn of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra since 1966. Before joining the CSO, he was a member of Leopold Stokowski’s American Symphony Orchestra, the Symphony of the Air, and was Principal Horn with the Kansas City Philharmonic. He has appeared as soloist with orchestras world-wide, including the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra under Daniel Barenboim.

Mr. Clevenger has given recitals and masterclasses throughout the world and is the featured soloist on several Chicago Symphony Orchestra recordings. His recordings of the Haydn and Mozart Horn Concerti were both nominated for Grammy Awards, and his recording of the Mozart and Beethoven Quintets for Piano and Winds won a Grammy.

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Gregory Flint, Artist-Teacher of Horn, also serves as Associate Professor of Horn at the University of Wisconsin in Milwaukee. Prior to his UWM appointment in 2003, he taught horn at DePaul University and brass chamber music at his alma mater, Northwestern University.

Mr. Flint has been principal horn with the Elgin Symphony since 2001, where his performance of Richard Strauss’ Concerto No. 1 was broadcast nationally.  He has performed with the Chicago Symphony, Milwaukee Symphony, Ravinia Festival Orchestra, Grant Park Symphony, Colorado Orchestra, Honolulu Symphony, Santa Fe Opera Orchestra, and the Key West Symphony. Mr. Flint has played numerous performances with the Lyric Opera of Chicago, including several Ring cycles under the direction of Zubin Mehta.

An avid chamber music performer, Mr. Flint is a member of the award winning Asbury Brass Quintet, Tower Brass of Chicago, and the Fulcrum Point Brass Quintet.  He has toured internationally with the Chicago Brass Quintet and the Prairie Winds, and is co-artistic director of the Chamber Music Milwaukee series at UW-Milwaukee. His long-held position as first horn with the Chicago Jazz Orchestra has provided him opportunities to perform and record with such jazz luminaries as Clark Terry, Roy Hargrove, Nicholas Payton, Jon Faddis and Frank Sinatra. A much sought after freelancer, Greg has performed with The Three Tenors, Ray Charles, Aretha Franklin, Barry Manilow, Celine Dion, Stevie Nicks, Johny Mathis and Andrea Bocelli.

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Reed Capshaw currently holds the position of Principal Trombone of the Elgin Symphony, the Lake Forest Symphony, and the South Bend Symphony.  He is an alumnus of the Civic Orchestra of Chicago.  He has performed with the Chicago Symphony and toured with the Cleveland Orchestra.   While in Chicago he frequently performs with many of the great area ensembles, including the Lyric Opera Orchestra, the Grant Park Symphony, Ravinia Festival Orchestra, the Milwaukee Symphony, and Chicago Philharmonic. 

Mr. Capshaw had the privilege to study with Dr. Peter Vivona at Northern Arizona University and Dennis Bubert of the Ft. Worth Symphony before he moved to Chicago in 1998.  He graduated with honors with his Bachelors of Music in Trombone Performance in 2002 at Roosevelt University, where he studied with Chicago Symphony Principal Trombonist, Jay Friedman.  In 2005 he completed his Masters in Music at Northwestern University where he studied with Michael Mulcahy, Charles Vernon, and Randy Hawes.  He participated in the Alessi Seminar in Italy in 2006.  In 2011 Prof. Capshaw performed the Milhaud Concertino D’Hiver with the South Bend Symphony.  He has also been a soloist with the Naperville Community Band. 

He is a member of The Chicago Trombone Consort, the Third Coast Brass Quintet, and Tower Brass of Chicago.  In addition to his teaching duties at the CCPA at Roosevelt, Mr. Capshaw teaches trombone and low brass at Indiana University-South Bend, North Central College, University of Illinois at Chicago, and Harper College in Palatine.

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Peter Ellefson holds the rank of Professor of Music at Indiana University, in addition to Lecturer and Artist-in-Residence positions at Northwestern University and Roosevelt University. Prof. Ellefson has also taught at the University of Costa Rica and the Music Academy of the West in Santa Barbara, California and currently serves on the Board of Advisors for the International Trombone Association. He has performed, recorded and toured with the Chicago Symphony and the New York Philharmonic, orchestras that he plays with frequently.

In 2002, Mr. Ellefson moved to Indiana from Seattle, where he had been a member of the Seattle Symphony since 1992. During his decade in Seattle, he made dozens of recordings with the orchestra, playing trombone, euphonium and bass trumpet, and served as principal trombone for Seattle Opera’s renowned production of Richard Wagner’s Der Ring des Nibelungen. Mr. Ellefson has participated in hundreds of recording sessions for motion pictures, IMAX, television and video games, and has also backed entertainers as diverse as Linda Ronstadt, Burt Bacharach, Frank Sinatra Jr., Ray Charles, James Taylor, Manhattan Transfer and Yes.

Mr. Ellefson's chamber music credits include the Canadian Brass, Chicago Chamber Musicians, Chicago Brass Quintet, Fulcrum Point New Music Project, New York Philharmonic Brass Quintet, Proteus 7 and Tower Brass of Chicago. He holds a Master of Music degree from Northwestern University.

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Jay Friedman is Principal Trombone in the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. Mr. Friedman attended Yale University and Roosevelt University. After two years in the Florida Symphony and four years with the Civic Orchestra of Chicago, he joined the Chicago Symphony Orchestra in 1962 and has held the position of Principal Trombone since 1964. He has been a soloist with the orchestra on several occasions. Mr. Friedman has presented brass master classes and orchestral performance seminars throughout the United States.

Well known as an arranger and conductor, Mr. Friedman’s widely performed works include his arrangement of Strauss’ An Alpine Symphony for brass. He has appeared as conductor with the Chautauqua Music Festival, the Civic Orchestra of Chicago, the Hawaii Symphony Orchestra, the Mostly Mozart Festival, and the American Opera Group.  Currently he is the conductor and music director of the Symphony of Oak Park and River Forest.

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Channing Philbrick holds the positions of Co-Assistant Principal Trumpet with the Lyric Opera Orchestra of Chicago and Second Trumpet with the Grant Park Symphony Orchestra.  He is also a member of the Chicago Philharmonic and Bach Week Festival Orchestras.  Channing has performed as an extra trumpet player with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra., the Seattle Symphony, Music of the Baroque, the Rochester Philharmonic, the Savannah Symphony Orchestra and as a member of the Tulsa Philharmonic and the Millar Brass Ensemble.  He can be heard on numerous radio and television commercials as well as on compact disc recordings with the Lyric Opera of Chicago, the Grant Park Symphony, the Millar Brass Ensemble and others.  Channing has been on the faculty of the Chicago College of Performing Arts at Roosevelt University since 1988.

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Mark Ridenour joined the Chicago Symphony Orchestra in 1994 as Assistant Principal and Third Trumpet. He came to Chicago from the Florida Orchestra, where he was Principal Trumpet. Prior to that, he was a member of the Memphis Symphony, the Dayton Philharmonic, and the Lexington Philharmonic. He served as Principal Trumpet of the Taipei Philharmonic Festival Orchestra and the Sarasota Opera and has performed with the Cincinnati Symphony, the Cincinnati Pops, Boston Symphony and the New York Philharmonic.

Mr. Ridenour has appeared as soloist with the Chicago Symphony, Florida Orchestra, Memphis Symphony, Highland Park Strings and various brass ensembles.

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Charles Schuchat is a member of the award-winning Asbury Brass Quintet and has performed and recorded with the Chicago Symphony, Boston Symphony, and Israel Philharmonic. He has participated in numerous music festivals including the Spoleto Festival, Ravinia Festival, and Tanglewood Music Festival. While at Tanglewood, Schuchat received the C.D. Jackson Award for Achievement.

A native of Washington, DC, he spent the 1997-98 season as principal tuba of the Israel Philharmonic. Mr. Schuchat is a former student of Arnold Jacobs. To contact Prof. Schuchat directly please email him at cschuchat@gmail.com.