Gabriel Kovach has been principal horn of the Phoenix Symphony since 2006. He is also principal horn of the Glimmerglass and Artosphere festival orchestras; and previously served as principal horn of the National Arts Centre Orchestra in Ottawa, the Chamber Orchestra of Philadelphia, the Opera Company of Philadelphia, the Delaware Symphony Orchestra, and the Moscow Chamber Orchestra. He has toured with the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, sharing duties as principal and second horn; and has performed with the Philadelphia Orchestra and the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra.

Mr. Kovach has participated in the Casals, Norfolk Chamber, Verbier, and Sarasota music festivals; the National Repertory Orchestra; and the Marlboro Music Festival and School, where he founded the Sonoro Winds with several colleagues. He has taught clinics and master classes for the Southwest Horn Conference; Interlochen Arts Academy; and Arizona, Arizona State, and New Mexico State universities.

In 2001 Mr. Kovach recorded the world premiere of Max Schubel’s Esquisses en désarroi with cellist Inbal Segev and the National Polish Radio Symphony Orchestra. He has been a featured soloist with the Phoenix Symphony, performing Bach’s Brandenburg Concerto No. 1 on two separate occasions.

Mr. Kovach holds a bachelor’s degree from the Curtis Institute of Music, where he studied with Myron Bloom; and a master’s degree from the Juilliard School, where he studied with Julie Landsman and Jerome Ashby.

Benjamin Schmid was born in Vienna and grew up in Salzburg. In 1992 he won the Carl Flesch Competition in London, where he was also awarded the Mozart, Beethoven, and Audience prizes. Since then he has performed on the world’s major stages with renowned orchestras such as the Vienna Philharmonic, the Philharmonia Orchestra (London), the St. Petersburg Philharmonic, and the Concertgebouw (Amsterdam) under conductors such as Christoph von Dohnányi, Valery Gergiev, Ingo Metzmacher, Seiji Ozawa, and David Zinman.

In addition to the standard concerto literature, Mr. Schmid includes concertos by Hartmann, Gulda, Korngold, Lutoslawski, Muthspiel, Schoenberg, and Szymanowski in his repertoire, and is skilled in jazz improvisation. He has recorded about 40 CDs, receiving such awards as the German Record Prize, the Echo Klassik Prize, the Gramophone Editor’s Choice, and the Strad Selection. His June 2011 performance with the Vienna Philharmonic and Valery Gergiev was broadcast internationally and released on DVD by Deutsche Grammophon. Mr. Schmid is professor of violin at the Mozarteum in Salzburg and gives master classes in Berne, Switzerland. In the summer of 2006 he was awarded the International Prize for Art and Culture of the City of Salzburg. A 1991 graduate of the Curtis Institute of Music, he plays the ex-Viotti 1718 Stradivarius violin.

Additional artists include:

Sara Han, clarinet
Doron Laznow, bassoon
Haeji Kim, viola
John Lee, cello
Marcus Elliott Gaved, double bass
Benjamin Krasner, piano