French Horn
William Hughes, Principal French Horn
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, Orchestra Kentucky, and Gateway Chamber Orchestra. 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, Memphis Symphony, Huntsville 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.
alan Parshley
A native of Michigan, hornist Alan Parshley received his education and training at Olivet College, Michigan State University, the University of Wisconsin in Madison, and the Yale Summer School of Music and Art in Norfolk, Connecticut. He performed with the Kalamazoo Symphony Orchestra from 1976 to 1979 and toured the eastern United States as member of the American Wind Symphony Orchestra in 1980 and 1983.
Alan started performing with the Vermont Symphony Orchestra and Vermont Brass Quintet in 1984. As a member of the VSO brass trio, he toured the state for 25 years, introducing thousands of young students to brass instruments. He was a Lecturer in the Department of Music and Dance at the University of Vermont for 34 years, teaching Horn, Music Theory, Music Appreciation, Brass Techniques, group piano classes, and conducting the Vermont Wind Ensemble.
In 1987, he joined the Albany Symphony, commuting from northern Vermont to Albany for the past thirty-six years. He has also performed with the Berkshire Symphony, the Berkshire Opera Festival, the Springfield Symphony, and the Portland Symphony
In 2017, Alan decided to relocate to a warmer climate, and settled in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. He plays in the Space Coast Symphony Orchestra, is the horn section leader of the South Florida Pride Band and performs in and manages the South Florida Pride Brass Quintet. Racking up those frequent flyer miles, he is still performing with the Vermont Symphony Orchestra and the Albany Symphony Orchestra, associations he is proud to continue.