Chicago’s rejected horn finds seat in LA
OrchestrasThe Los Angeles Philharmonic was welcomed David Alan Cooper, who was denied tenure as principal horn at the Chicago Symphony despite passionate support from many in the orchestra.
At the LA Phil he will be Associate principal horn, a slight step down, but hopefully with less rancorous neighbours.
Before Chicago, David was solo horn at the Berlin Philharmonic.
LA has hired one of the world’s best.
Reject me once, shame on you; reject me twice, shame on me.
If it was only Chicago, then maybe, but it was Berlin first, then followed by Chicago.
Perhaps all the horns of Berlin and Chicago are the meanest horns on earth, or perhaps…
Berlin and Chicago have diametrically opposed styles of playing, there’s no pattern there.
And he was apparently unable to lead either section, I’d say that’s the definition of a pattern.
All I will say is how he sounds on stage has obscured other musical shortcomings.
The pattern is him
Zayin, please tell us what you have achieved in your life that is on the level of David Cooper’s horn playing.
… but he wasn’t playing his parts the Dale Clevenger way?
Shame on him! ;-), 😉
Maybe you havn’t heard but there has been a tradition of brass playing in Chicago for over half a century. Its not just Clevenger.
Greatest horn of the history of music.
Hyperbole is without a doubt the single greatest thing in the history of the universe.
As an audience member who favors the CSO brass section, I miss the playing of this great artist in the CSO section. He is special
It was Muti who made the final decision to not give tenure to this incredible player. Muti is a moron and has taken this player away from our city.
You don’t know the full story, and therefore should not comment as such.
The CSO needs to get its trombone section in order for their brass can ever regain past glories. I would have thought the recent spate of retirements post-Muti would have accomplished that, but apparently not.
They sounded pretty darn good in NY a couple of weeks ago…………..
And sitting next to another the world’s best, Andrew Bain.
I have never understood the euphoria surrounding Bain. DC has much more to say musically IMHO.
He can compete with Bain for those lucrative Hollywood scoring sessions!
Been there, done that. They ain’t lucrative.
…. Have to go to London for Hollywood Scoring sessions…..
This was announced a while back.
I just heard he was offered the principal job in San Francisco after playing a trial week. Mark Almond also did a trial week. It will be interesting to see what David decides to do.
The sound of the CSO horn section so far this season sounds shockingly different since Cooper’s departure. It now is somewhat bland and unfocused, lacking in swagger and dynamic contrast. Everything is kind of a mezzo something now.
“Lacking in swagger”…
Whoever the CSO hires in their orchestra as a principal musician in 2023 is at the absolute pinnacle of their field. Mark Almond is no exception.
Stupid. The shortest-tenured horn player in the CSO has been with the orchestra for 17 years, and David Cooper was with them for 1. I highly doubt that their playing changed all that much in a single year. Do you believe that for the nearly 20 years before Cooper, even the 13 when Clevenger was still principal, the section was bland, unfocused, and lacking in swagger and dynamic contrast?
David Cooper was with them for four years (2019-23), the hysterical Covid nonsense notwithstanding. But your point largely stands.
Wow, I didn’t know that. Interesting that it took two and a half seasons to realize that he just didn’t have it?
Also recently offered the principal horn position with the San Francisco Symphony apparently.
Huge failure by an old conductor on his way out the door. Tragic mistake!
David Cooper was special in Dallas under van Zweden. Miss him greatly.
That’s wonderful. Looking forward to hearing him perform with our amazing orchestra.
Daniel Gingrich has been a great horn player for 50 years. The CSO will be fine.
Thomas Howell
If memory serves, you are THE Thomas Howell. That 1970s video of the Tannhäuser Overture with the CSO under Sir Georg…That was you, hopefully. If so, sir: thanks for my youth as fledgling musician. You have no idea how much I owe and Mr. Clevenger…
CongratuIations to David Cooper, this is clearly well deserved.
For almost 3 years, from 2019 to 2022, my wife and I owned a condominium as a 2nd home on Chicago’s north side. One of our joys when there, usually for about one week each month, was to be able to attend Chicago Symphony performances. Of the many outstanding players we found ourselves talking about with great admiration after concerts was David Cooper… his beautiful sound, phrasing, musical leadership, and wonderful energy. It came as a great disappointment to us to learn of the tenure decision by some in the CSO, but a great relief that he’s landed in LA. The Philharmonic’s gain is Chicago’s loss.
Randall Hester
Principal flute 1975-2018
Columbus Symphony Orchestra
insufferable comment. donate your SECOND home to a family in need.
Of all the places to own a second home you choose Chicago?!
Old news.
More recently (within the last week or two) he was offered the principal position with SFS following a trial period between him and, coincidentally, Mark Almond.
What is the real reason he had to go in Berlin and Chicago? i have the gut feeling it is not an musical issue. is it about his personality? or other issues? would anybody be do kind as to share some insights?
As a violist in the orchestra, I had no input into the decision not to offer David tenure and am unclear on the considerations that led to his dismissal. But I did come to be his friend in his time here in Chicago. If there was an issue with his personality, I was unable to discern it. Indeed, I was close to awestruck with his unfailingly positive attitude and utter lack of bitterness in the face of how things turned out for him here.
Sometimes these things happen. I have friends who were fired by famous conductors despite having tenure. There is always a way to get rid of someone.
Back in the day, I had something incredibly embarrassing happen to me. I spent six years at a top conservatory where I stood out. Well, when I auditioned for a graduate program at the same school, I wasn’t even wait listed…they simply rejected me. This almost never happens for my given instrument. Two things happened which led up to it: 1. I left a teacher who used to fall asleep during lessons. He was very angry over the fact that I left his studio and wrote very bad comments during my audition while the other two professors, including my teacher, wrote very strong comments. 2. Although it was obvious what happened, the Assistant Dean didn’t like the fact that I was basically shacking up with the hottest girl at the school, which was made known to me later on. So yeah, I was out. I had some of the biggest names in the classical world send letters to the President of the school, but nothing worked. Injustice does suck. However, given the state of the classical music world today, I don’t think obtaining a graduate degree would have made much of a difference.
Let’s just wish him good luck.
I’ve listened to bickering over appointments for many years. The harsh fact is, if you’re not in the section and doing the job, you will at best partly understand the decision and most likely not understand it at all. And why would you?
As a counselor it reminds of the man who says, “Oh, my first wife was just awful. And my second wife was even worse! And my third wife . . .”
If LA Phil could only replace their concertmaster with someone of the highest caliber….Unfortunately Martin Chalifour, a terrible Salonen pick, will never leave.
Did LA Phil management reject you for any further work with them? I hope they did.
Yeah…he’s been there forever. Time to go.
Enjoy it. Set the wild echoes flying.
This guy is going to have a complicated résumé.
While I recognize his incredible talent, there’s definitely something up that we don’t know about- sometime in between Berlin and Chicago, he reapplied for a Dallas symphony audition (another previous orchestra) and his resume was straight up rejected. They didn’t want anything to do with him.
Are you sure about that? That’s really surprising. How could the orchestra of which he was tenured principal horn (Dallas) go on to reject his resume and shut him out? I always thought he was universally loved in Dallas and that they yearned to have him back from Berlin.
Someone in the orchestra told me this, so I’m inclined to believe it.
Odd, he was soooooo good at the CSO. Figures. I stopped going because of the masks. Yes, many are in masks.
The David Cooper World Tour: By your tickets for upcoming concerts in Los Angeles
What is it with people not trusting tenure committees of major orchestras? These committees are all made up of highly accomplished professional musicians, as well as the music director. We, random strangers on the internet, know better than these musicians? If the tenure committee denies tenure, there must be a very important reason. End of story.
Because some of the commenters on here are members of major orchestras and know that sometimes, as is reportedly the case with David, a musician might have the support of 99.9% of the orchestra but a couple of strong negative voices can get in the ear of the music director and completely derail their tenure process. Even if an entire tenure committee is strongly in support of a player, if one or two people don’t like the player and can sway the music director, once the MD says “no”, that’s it. A tenure committee cannot overturn a Music Director’s no. It very well could be, as is suggested by many people “in the know”, that Cooper got screwed in Chicago.
Being on a tenure committee is a thankless job. Sheesh. Where is the respect for those CSO musicians?