William VerMeulen
William VerMeulen is an American horn player. He has been Principal Horn of the Houston Symphony Orchestra since 1990. Before joining the HSO, he was a member of the Columbus Symphony, Honolulu Symphony, and Kansas City Philharmonic. He is Professor of Horn at the Shepherd School of Music at Rice University in Houston, Texas. In addition, he maintains an ACTIVE solo and chamber music career with appearances at Music@Menlo and the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center.
Early life
VerMeulen was born on January 3, 1961 in Lake Forest, Illinois, to a veterinarian father and an semi-professional cellist mother. He sang in church choir and was enrolled in piano lessons from a young age. After completing several piano recitals, he began to play horn. VerMeulen attended the Interlochen Arts Academy before being accepted as a student of Dale Clevenger at Northwestern University.
Professional life
After studying less than one year with Dale Clevenger, VerMeulen won his first professional orchestral audition as Second Horn of the Kansas City Philharmonic. Almost immediately after his arrival, the orchestra went on strike and ceased to play concerts. During the strike VerMeulen performed with the Jack Daniels Original Silver Cornet Band and spent 4 months as an acting Principal Horn of the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra. Shortly after returning to Kansas City he won the Principal Horn position of the Honolulu Symphony Orchestra, a title he held for 8 seasons. VerMeulen then won Principal Horn in the Columbus Symphony and shortly thereafter was hired by Christoph Eschenbach and the Houston Symphony as Principal Horn.
VerMeulen was the second American Hornist to record the complete Mozart Horn Concertos with a major American Orchestra. The album was recorded at with Christoph Eschenbach and the Houston Symphony in 1993. In addition, he was featured on Cantos, a CD of works by American composer Samuel Adler. VerMeulen has concertized nationally and internationally as soloist with the Auckland Philharmonia, Wroclaw Philharmonic in Poland, the Savannah Symphony, Toledo Symphony, Buffalo Philharmonic, Chicago Civic Orchestra, Lake Forest Symphony, Anchorage Symphony, Jalapa Symphony, Huntsville Symphony, Krakow Chamber Orchestra, National Symphony of Mexico, Columbus Symphony, Honolulu Symphony and Houston Symphony.
VerMeulen has been invited to perform as Guest Principal Horn with the Los Angeles Philharmonic, Cincinnati Symphony, St. Louis Symphony, Pittsburgh Symphony and St. Paul Chamber Orchestra. In addition to his orchestral activities, VerMeulen has performed and taught at many music festivals, including the Aspen Music Festival, Tanglewood Music Festival, Grand Teton Music Festival, Pacific Music Festival, National Orchestral Institute, New World Symphony, National Repertory Orchestra, Colorado Music Festival, Interlochen Arts Academy, and the Sun Valley Summer Symphony.
In 1985, he received the "Distinguished Teacher of America Certificate of Excellence" from President Ronald Reagan and the White House commission on Presidential Scholars. In 2009-10 he was an artist of the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center. VerMeulen has students who have won positions in the Boston Symphony, Cincinnati Symphony, Cleveland Orchestra, New York Philharmonic, Orchestre symphonique de Montréal, Kansas City Symphony, Colorado Symphony, Toronto Symphony, Dallas Symphony, Houston Symphony, Israel Philharmonic, Los Angeles Philharmonic, and San Francisco Symphony, as well as many other American and International Orchestras.
Personal life
William VerMeulen is married to violinist Sylvia VerMeulen. He has a son named Michael and a daughter named Nicole.
Sources
- http://www.parkerartists.com/NewPages/vermeulen.html
- http://www.interlochen.org/high-performing-alumni#symphony