Rachel Childers, French horn / SMTD Alumni Award Winner

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Rachel Childers, recipient of the 2024 Hall of Fame Award from the SMTD Alumni Board, performs a guest recital on French horn. Her program includes works by Ludwig van Beethoven, Benjamin Britten, Franz Schubert, William Grant Still, and James Naigus, and will feature guest artists Nicholas Phan, tenor and Adam Unsworth, French horn.

Michigan native RACHEL CHILDERS (BM ’03, MM ’06, horn) has been a member of the Boston Symphony Orchestra since 2011. As Second Horn of the BSO, she occupies the John P. II and Nancy S. Eustis chair. She is notably the first female member of the Boston Symphony brass section. Prior to moving to Boston, Ms. Childers was the Acting Assistant Principal/Utility Horn of the Colorado Symphony Orchestra. She also held several positions in orchestras throughout California, affectionately referred to as the Freeway Philharmonic. Rachel holds the distinction of being in the first class of admitted horn players to the Colburn School, in Los Angeles, where she studied with David Jolley and David Krehbiel. Rachel received her bachelor’s and master’s degrees at the University of Michigan, where she studied with Søren Hermansson. During her time at U-M she enjoyed performing with both the Symphony Orchestra and the Symphony Band, where she began her college career as Horn 4B under director H. Robert Reynolds.