Horns
Jessie Brooks
Jessie has held the position of Principal Horn of the Hamilton Philharmonic Orchestra as well as PrincipalHorn of the National Ballet of Canada since 2017.
She received her Bachelor of Music degree from McGill University in 1999 while studying with James Sommerville. She went on to complete her Master of Music degree from the University of Illinois in 2002.
Prior to her current positions, Jessie played Third Horn in the Kitchener-Waterloo Symphony Orchestra from 2011-2016 and was the Principal Horn of the Thunder Bay Symphony Orchestra from 2003-2009.
Jessie has been a regular substitute with the Toronto Symphony Orchestra since 2009 and the Canadian Opera Company since 2015. She has enjoyed playing in many Toronto Ed Mirvish Productions over the years: Spamalot, Billy Elliot, Cats, Little House on the Prairie, Sound of Music, Wizard of Oz, Les Misérables as well as shows at the Stratford Festival: Man of La Mancha, Jesus Christ Super Star, Tommy, Crazy for You and Billy Elliot.
She is a member of the Toronto Brass Quintet and was involved in the planning of the first Canadian Women’s Brass Collective Conference in 2019.
She maintains an active teaching studio in Toronto, where she lives with her husband Philip and their three children.
Patricia Evans
A native of northern Vermont, Patricia started playing the horn at 10 years old. She studied at the Oberlin Conservatory of Music and later at McGill University. In 2000 Patricia was awarded a fellowship with the New World Symphony were she spent the next two years under the baton of Michael Tilson Thomas. In 2002 she won the position of Principal horn with the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra. Patricia has been invited to play with some of the top orchestras in North America, including the Montreal Symphony, the Saint Louis Symphony, and the National Arts Centre Orchestra. She teaches at the University of Manitoba and can frequently be seen playing with the Winnipeg Chamber Music Society, Groundswell, and the Manitoba Chamber Orchestra.
Julie Fauteux
Julie Fauteux, born in Sherbrooke, Quebec, joined the NAC Orchestra in 1999 as associate principal horn. She studied at the Montreal Conservatory with James Somerville, where she finished with a “Premier Prix”.
Immediately after the end of her studies, at age 21, she was appointed principal horn of the Orquesta Sinfonica de Galicia in Spain, and later on in the Real Filharmonica de Galicia, also as principal horn, where she remained until coming to Ottawa in 1999.
Julie has played with different orchestras as soloist, including l’Orchestre Symphonique de Sherbrooke, and the Real Filharmonica de Galicia, and won the First Prize in the brass category at the Orchestre Symphonique de Québec music competition. She was also a member of the National Youth Orchestra of Canada for three years.
Julie’s orchestral career also included being invited in 1998 to play some concerts with the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra under the direction of Mariss Jansons.
Aside from orchestral playing, Julie also enjoys chamber music and teaching. She teaches horn at the Conservatoire de Musique de Gatineau and in Spain taught at the Academy of the "Real Filharmonica de Galicia". She was a member of the faculty at the Banff Centre in the summer of 2006. She also takes part regularly in the Ottawa Chamber Music Festival.
Allene Hackleman
Allene Hackleman has been principal horn of the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra since 2004. A native of Vancouver, Allene studied horn with Martin Hackleman, continuing undergraduate work at the University of Cincinnati. Ms Hackleman has performed with the National Symphony and the Montréal Symphony, and has performed concerti with the Edmonton Symphony, Alberta Baroque Ensemble, Red Deer Symphony and the Victoria Symphony. She is a member of the Summit Brass, and teaches at the Rafael Mendez Brass Institute in Denver, Colorado. Allene enjoys chamber music and has been a guest artist at the Festival of the Sound in Parry Sound, Ontario, the Ottawa Chamber Music Festival, the Edmonton Recital Society, and was featured at the International Women's Brass conference in 2010. In 2015, Allene was invited to teach masterclasses at the Musikacademy in Belgrade, Serbia, and also performed as a member of the first Canadian National Brass Project. She teaches at the University of Alberta.
Nicholas Hartman
Toronto Symphony Orchestra Horn Nicholas Hartman joined the TSO in 2017, after previously serving with the National Arts Centre Orchestra. He has performed with orchestras and chamber ensembles throughout the United States and Canada, including the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, Seattle Symphony, Houston Symphony, San Antonio Symphony, Richmond Symphony, North Carolina Symphony, The Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra, Houston Grand Opera, Breckenridge Music Festival, and the Sun Valley Summer Symphony. In 2012, Nicholas was invited to perform at the Kennedy Center in Washington DC as part of their ongoing Conservatory Project. He was a 2011 and 2012 Tanglewood Music Center fellow, a 2010 National Repertory Orchestra fellow, and in 2009, he was invited to Québec to record the complete Beethoven symphonies with the Orchestra de la Francophonie Canadienne.
Nicholas is a 2012 graduate of Rice University’s Shepherd School of Music in Houston, where he studied with Houston Symphony principal horn William VerMeulen.
David Parker
David Parker has been Principal Hornist of Symphony Nova Scotia since 2000. He has been a member of the Kitchener Waterloo Symphony, the Barcelona Symphony Orchestra, the Israel Sinfonietta, and the Quebec Symphony Orchestra. He has also performed with the Toronto Symphony Orchestra, Tafelmusik, the Hamilton Philharmonic, the Boston Lyric Opera and the Boston Pops Orchestra. He holds degrees in music from Boston University, the University of Toronto, and Acadia University. His teachers have included Daniel Katzen, Hermann Baumann and Eugene Rittich. Further studies have included residencies at the Royal Conservatory of Music, Tanglewood, the National Repertory Orchestra, the Los Angeles Philharmonic Institute, and the Pacific Music Festival.
Mr. Parker regularly performs in music festivals and chamber music series including Scotia Festival of Music, the Music Room, the Charlottetown Festival, the Garden Room, St. Cecilia Society, Music at Three Churches, Indian River Festival, and the New Brunswick Summer Music Festival.
Mr. Parker teaches at Dalhousie University, and Université de Moncton. While on a one-year leave from Symphony Nova Scotia, Mr. Parker was the horn teacher and Centre Director of Sistema New Brunswick in Moncton. He continued his work with Sistema New Brunswick as Brass Coach and Wind Ensemble Conductor upon his return to Symphony Nova Scotia in September 2012.
Gabriel Radford
Gabriel was born and raised in Toronto, Canada. He is currently Third Horn of the Toronto Symphony Orchestra, a position he has held since 2002. Prior to joining the TSO, Gabriel was Associate Principal Horn of the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra.
Over the course of his career, Gabriel has played with many orchestras, including several guest appearances and Carnegie Hall performances with the Boston Symphony Orchestra and Les Violons du Roy. He has also played with the National Arts Centre Orchestra, the Kirov Orchestra, l’Orchestre Symphonique de Quebec, and many others.
In recent years, chamber music highlights have included commissioning and performing “Chaconne” by Toronto Composer Erik Ross for Horn, Oboe and Piano, a solo appearance with the Evergreen Gamelan Ensemble, performances of the Brahms Trio, the Reinecke Trio and the Schubert Octet. In October he will perform the premiere of “rhapsody” for Horn, Oboe and Orchestra.
Gabriel is a devoted teacher. He has given lectures and masterclasses at the University of Lethbridge, University of Toronto, Glenn Gould School, University of Manitoba, and others. Gabriel has spent several summers teaching in the Masterclass program at the Banff Centre for the Arts, teaches a full studio of students at the University of Toronto, and is a member of the faculty at the National Youth Orchestra Canada. Gabriel was honoured to adjudicate auditions for the first-ever YouTube Symphony Orchestra.
In July 2012, he was awarded the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal for his work fundraising, mentoring, coaching and teaching at the National Youth Orchestra Canada.
Gabriel is married to, and has two children with Sarah Jeffrey, Principal Oboist of the Toronto Symphony Orchestra.
Florence Rousseau
Florence Rousseau was appointed Third Horn of the Orchestre Symphonique de Montréal in 2022. She previously held the position of Third Horn with the Orchestre Symphonique de Trois-Rivières, and has played as a guest with many ensembles such as the National Arts Centre Orchestra, Orchestre Métropolitain, Orchestre Symphonique de Québec, and les Violons du Roy, among others. Florence completed her Bachelor's degree in Orchestral Performance at the Royal College of Music in London, where she studied primarily with Simon Rayner and Tim Jones. She then returned to her hometown of Montreal to complete her Master's of Music degree at McGill University under the guidance of Nadia Coté before concluding her studies with an Artist Diploma specialising in Orchestral Excerpts from the Université de Montréal with Louis-Philippe Marsolais.