French Horn
William Hughes, Principal French Horn
A native of New Cumberland, Pennsylvania, William Hughes has built a distinguished career as a hornist celebrated for his rich tone and expressive artistry. After graduating from Cedar Cliff High School, he went on to earn both his Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in Performance from the Mannes School of Music, where he studied with Philip Myers, the legendary former Principal Horn of the New York Philharmonic.
Mr. Hughes’s professional journey began on the world stage in 1990, when he was appointed Principal Horn of the Korean Symphony Orchestra in Seoul, South Korea. He later served as Principal Horn of the Orquesta del Principado de Asturias in Spain for three seasons, experiences that deepened his musicianship and broadened his artistic perspective. Currently, Mr. Hughes holds the position of Principal Horn with the Albany Symphony Orchestra and is a member of the Harrisburg Symphony Orchestra. He has also performed with some of America’s most renowned ensembles, including the New York Philharmonic and the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra. Over the course of his career, he has had the privilege of performing under the direction of many of the world’s leading conductors, among them Leonard Bernstein, Kurt Masur, Zubin Mehta, Charles Dutoit, Leonard Slatkin, Zdeněk Mácal, and JoAnn Falletta.
Mr. Hughes can be heard on more than thirty-five recordings—three of which have received Grammy Awards—most notably with the Albany Symphony Orchestra.
Joseph Demko
Joseph Demko is an active performer, and currently holds the positions of Second Horn in the Albany Symphony, Fourth Horn in the Chattanooga Symphony and Opera, and Second Horn in Opera Saratoga. He also regularly performs with Nashville Opera and Orchestra Kentucky. Previously, he has held the positions of Second Horn in the Atlantic Symphony, Fourth Horn in the Plymouth Philharmonic, and has performed with the Boston Philharmonic Orchestra, Boston Lyric Opera, New Haven Symphony, Alabama Symphony, Huntsville Symphony, Memphis Symphony, Rhode Island Philharmonic, Tucson Symphony, and many others. He is an active studio musician and has played on many television shows, movies, video games, and commercial albums, as well as many recordings with the Albany Symphony.
Joseph is also an active music educator and teaches privately in Nashville. He holds a Bachelor of Music degree from the New England Conservatory of Music, where he studied with Daniel Katzen and Richard Mackey of the Boston Symphony Orchestra. He has also studied with Deborah Stephenson of the USAF Band, and both horn and conducting with Sylvia Alimena of the National Symphony Orchestra. Joseph started playing horn in the Alexandria, VA public schools, and currently resides in Nashville, TN.