William VerMeulen

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 and a recording of the chamber version of Bruckner 7th symphony performing with Gruppo Montibello. In addition to the dozens of recording made as Principal Horn in an orchestra he has recorded the Brahms Trio opus 40, Mozart Quintet K. 407, Schoenberg Wind Quintet, Beethoven Septet opus 20, Spohr Nonet opus 31, and the Six Bagatelles for wind quintet by Ligeti for Music@Menlo. In addition, he is featured as first horn on a live recording of Bach Brandenbug Concerto no. 1 with the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center. He is also featured on the CD, "Texas Horns" which is a collaboration between the horn sections of the Houston and Dallas Symphony Orchestras. He also recorded an album of Christmas music, entitled, 'The Christmas Horn', collaborating with horn students from the Shepherd School of Music and VerMeulen's former teacher and mentor, Dale Clevenger. VerMeulen has had numerous compositions written for him, including concerti by esteemed American Composers Samuel Adler, Pierre Jalbert, Anthony DiLorenzo and the 'horn cantata' Canticum Sacrum written by Robert J. Bradshaw. He also performed in the North American premier of Collage for four horns and orchestra by film composer James Horn. 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, Shepherd School Symphony Orchestra, Huntsville Symphony, Virginia Symphony, Kraków Chamber Orchestra, National Symphony of Mexico, National Philharmonic, Columbus Symphony, Sun Valley Summer Symphony, Honolulu Symphony and Houston Symphony.

William VerMeulen is an American horn player and horn professor. He has been Principal Horn of the Houston Symphony Orchestra since 1990. He is also Professor of Horn at the Shepherd School of Music at Rice University in Houston, Texas. In addition, he is Brass Artist-in-Residence at the Glenn Gould School of Music in Toronto and Visiting Professor of Horn at the Eastman School of Music. Before joining the HSO, he was a member of the Columbus Symphony, Honolulu Symphony, and Kansas City Philharmonic. In addition, he maintains an active solo and chamber music career with appearances at Music@Menlo and the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center.

In 1985, he received the "Distinguished Teacher of America Certificate of Excellence" from President Ronald Reagan and the White House commission on Presidential Scholars. He was a member of the Advisory Council of the International Horn Society for nine years and serves an adjudicator and board member of the International Horn Competition of America. In 2009-10 he was an artist of the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center. As Professor of Horn at Rice University VerMeulen has students who have won positions in the Boston Symphony, Chicago Symphony, Cincinnati Symphony, Cleveland Orchestra, New York Philharmonic, Metropolitan Opera Orchestra, Detroit Symphony, National Symphony Orchestra, National Arts Centre Orchestra, Orchestre symphonique de Montréal, Kansas City Symphony, Seattle Symphony, St. Paul Chamber Orchestra, Colorado Symphony, Detroit Symphony, Toronto Symphony, Dallas Symphony, Houston Symphony, Israel Philharmonic, Los Angeles Philharmonic, San Francisco Symphony, Canadian Brass, as well as many other American and International Orchestras.

VerMeulen was born on January 3, 1961 in Lake Forest, Illinois, to a veterinarian father and a 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.