Jason Friedman’s horn playing welcomes and engages audiences with insightful comments and sensitive musicianship. Jason began playing horn at age 13, beginning formal studies with local pedagogue Elizabeth Gauss. Within three short years, Jason joined the Denver Young Artist Orchestra. A participant in numerous honor orchestras and bands, Jason has studied with Kolio Plachkov. Studying with Michael Thornton at the University of Colorado, Boulder, Jason graduated summa cume laude with a business minor in a record setting three years. Jason is a recent graduate student at the Juilliard School where he studied with Erik Ralske, principal horn of the Metropolitan Opera. Recently, Jason performed as guest associate principal horn in the Orquesta Sinfónica del Estado de México for the 2020 season. Currently, Jason is the acting 2nd horn of the Hawaii Symphony Orchestra and substitute with The Cleveland Orchestra.
Despite a young age, Jason has acquired a range of experience with important orchestras, including appointments with the Fort Collins Symphony the Greeley Philharmonic. He was also heard with the Colorado Symphony Orchestra, New York City Ballet Orchestra, New World Symphony, Aspen Chamber Orchestra, and the Juilliard Orchestra. Jason has played under the batons of conductors including Franz Welser-Möst, Michael Tilson Thomas, Barbara Hannigan, Andrew Litton, David Robertson, and Robert Spano. He has performed on Broadway as a substitute horn for Lion King.
A former member of the 511 Brass Quintet, founded at The Juilliard School, 511 Brass received a fellowship to work with the American Brass Quintet Seminar at Aspen in 2019 and were artists in residence at the Strings Music Festival in Steamboat in 2019. 511 Brass brought engaging performances of brass music to underserved communities across the US. Other chamber music experience includes woodwind quintet, horn quartet, and the Kaplan Fellowship for chamber music at the Bowdoin International Music Festival, studying with Stewart Rose. In 2020, Jason was a participant at Hidden Valley Festival of Winds. Jason has collaborated with musicians including Anton Rist, Nathaniel Silberschlag, Astrid Schween, Renee Jolles, Michelle LaCourse, Janet Sung, Elizabeth Mann, and Stewart Rose.
Venues Jason has played in include Carnegie Halls’ Stern Hall and Weill Recital Hall, Severance Hall, David Geffin Hall, Alice Tully and Boettcher Concert Hall, and St. Paul the Apostle in NY and Westwood. In competition, Jason has proven to be a consistent competitor. In 2017, he was a finalist at the International Horn Competition of America where he became a laureate of the Gretchen Snedeker prize for best performance of Tim Martin’s Lament.
A passionate educator, Jason developed a specialized curriculum, and as a teaching artist he gave interactive performances and music lessons in a traditional classroom to economics students at the City College Academy for the Arts in Harlem. As a private instructor, Jason seeks to help his students find their voice in music through playing horn.
As a technical assistant in the recording department at Juilliard, Jason filmed live streamed concerts and recorded performances. A self employed audio engineer, Jason started a very small business while at Juilliard recording audition tapes for colleagues in order to expand his modest arsenal of recording equipment. This was quite similar to a similar entrepreneurial endeavor in Colorado where Jason built electric bicycles in order to fund his other interest, bicycles. In his free time, Jason enjoys cycling, rock climbing, hiking, and cooking.
05/03/23 Rev.