The Chicago Symphony has announced that its principal horn for the past 47 seasons, Dale Clevenger, will retire effective June 30, 2013. From the orchestra’s press release:
Concluding a distinguished career of nearly five decades as principal horn with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra (CSO), Dale Clevenger will retire from the CSO, effective June 30, 2013.
A legend in the world of French horn for his sound, technique, finesse and fearless music making, Clevenger joined the CSO in 1966 under then-Music Director Jean Martinon. Throughout his 47-year tenure, he performed under subsequent Music Directors Sir Georg Solti, Daniel Barenboim and Riccardo Muti, as well as Helen Regenstein Conductor Emeritus Pierre Boulez, former Principal Conductor Bernard Haitink, former Principal Guest Conductors Carlo Maria Giulini and Claudio Abbado, and countless guest conductors.
CSO Music Director Riccardo Muti praised Clevenger, saying “Dale Clevenger will remain in the world of music not only as a great horn player, but also as a true musician and dedicated teacher. His unique contributions to the Chicago Symphony Orchestra as Principal Horn since 1966 leave a legacy that will forever be remembered and admired. I thank him for the music he has shared with me personally and I wish him great joy, peace and happiness as he begins a new chapter in his musical life, one I am sure will continue to enrich the musical world in innumerable ways.”
Clevenger has appeared with the CSO as soloist 35 times on subscription concerts in Chicago, as well as 23 times at the Ravinia Festival during the summer months. Among his most notable appearances was the world premiere in 2004 of a horn concerto composed for him by John Williams.
Before joining the CSO in 1966, Clevenger was a member of Leopold Stokowski’s American Symphony Orchestra and the Symphony of the Air, directed by Alfred Wallenstein; he also served as principal horn of the Kansas City Philharmonic and was an extra with the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra and New York Philharmonic.