David Griffin is the fourth horn of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. Upon graduating from Northwestern University in 1987, Griffin began his career with the Rochester Philharmonic and followed with positions in the orchestras of Montreal and Houston before joining the Chicago Symphony in 1995. Griffin has served as guest principal horn of the Los Angeles Philharmonic, Saint Louis Symphony, Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra and Shanghai Radio Orchestra. In September 2017, Griffin travelled to Japan for a solo tour, performing recitals in Tokyo, Nagasaki, and Osaka. With the wind quintet Prairie Winds, he has performed in more than 25 states and has released two CDs with the group. With the CSO Brass Quintet, Griffin has toured Japan, China, Taiwan, and Mexico. In June 2012, Griffin soloed with the National Orchestra of Brazil. He debuted as a soloist with the Chicago Symphony in Schumann’s Konzertstück at the Ravinia Festival in 2010. He has released the solo album For You, featuring the world-premiere recording of the Sonata for Horn by Bruce Broughton, which is available at cdbaby.com and iTunes. Griffin is artist faculty of French horn at Roosevelt University and has previously taught at McGill University and Northwestern University. He has given master classes recently at the Colburn School in Los Angeles and the San Francisco Conservatory. Summer festival engagements have included Sun Valley, Grand Teton, Tanglewood, Manchester (VT) and Madeline Island. Griffin has also been a featured artist and clinician at the annual symposium of the International Horn Society. Griffin, his wife Susan Warner, and their children, Henry and Pearl, live in Oak Park, Illinois.
A native of Kyoto, Japan, Mio Nakamura has established herself as an in-demand soloist, collaborative artist, and chamber musician in the Chicago area and abroad. She earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees in piano performance with honors, as well as a performance diploma, from Roosevelt University’s Chicago College of Performing Arts. Her mentors include Mary Sauer, Ludmila Lazar, Mitsuko Uchida, David Schrader, and John W. W. Sherer. Nakamura’s solo appearances include recitals with Chicago’s Musicians Club of Women Artists in Recital and Fourth Presbyterian Church’s Noon Concert series; on WFMT-FM radio; concerto performances with the Northwest Symphony Orchestra, the Evanston Symphony Orchestra, and the Symphony of Oak Park and River Forest. A collaborative enthusiast, Nakamura served as principal piano of the Civic Orchestra of Chicago. In June of 2018, Nakamura performed in the Negaunee Institute’s Concert for Peace and at the League of American Orchestras conference with Yo-Yo Ma. She also frequently appears as supplementary keyboardist and rehearsal pianist with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and has performed in Symphony Center, Ravinia, Millennium Park, and Carnegie Hall. Nakamura plays on the CSO’s All-Access Chamber Music, MusicNOW, Fourth Presbyterian Church Friday Noon Concert and St. John’s Episcopal Church Concert Series. Currently, Nakamura maintains a private piano studio, serves on the piano faculty at the Music Institute of Chicago, performs as organist for St. John’s Episcopal Church, and is the Music Director of Emerging Artists Chicago.
Biographies courtesy of the IMF.
