Jay Wadenpfuhl

Jay Starnes Wadenpfuhl (born June 7, 1950) was born into a musical family in Texas and became a professional horn player at fifteen. Mr. Wadenpfuhl studied at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, where he earned his bachelor and master degrees in music, majoring in horn and minoring in composition. He has also completed one year's work toward his Doctor of Musical Arts degree at North Texas State University. Before joining the Boston Symphony Orchestra in 1981, he was a member of the U.S. Army Band in Washington, D.C., the Florida Philharmonic, the Fort Worth Symphony, and the National Symphony Orchestra. He currently teaches at Boston University and the New England Conservatory of Music. As a member of the NFB Horn Quartet, Mr. Wadenpfuhl recorded an album in memory of John Barrows. Released in 1989, the album includes one of Mr. Wadenpfuhl's latest compositions, Tectonica, for eight horns and percussion. The NFB Quartet recently recorded its second album, with internationally known horn player Barry Tuckwell, to include the world premiere recording of Gunther Schuller's Five Pieces for Five Horns with the composer conducting, as well as a new Wadenpfuhl quartet called Textures. With John Williams and the Boston Pops Orchestra, Mr. Wadenpfuhl premiered the Huntington Horn Concerto, a piece written for him by William Thomas McKinley. Mr. Wadenpfuhl continues to be an active composer, particularly of works that include the horn, and he has been a composer and lyricist for popular and jazz songs since 1966.