The University of Michigan School of Music, Theatre & Dance announces that Michael Thornton will join the Department of Winds & Percussion as a professor in August 2026. Thornton enjoys a distinct and varied career as an orchestral performer, chamber musician, horn soloist, and pedagogue. He is currently principal horn of the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra, following thirty years as principal horn of the Colorado Symphony Orchestra.
“I am honored and excited to join SMTD,” Thornton said. “I look forward to collaborating with the esteemed faculty, renowned alumni, and, of course, the exceptional students. Sharing the many ideas that I have learned through my own performance career and helping develop the next generation of artists is truly a gift, and I thank Dean Gier and the SMTD faculty for their support. The horn studio is known and admired throughout the world, and building on that legacy is an incredible next step for me.”
A passionate and dedicated pedagogue, Thornton previously served as professor of horn at the University of Colorado Boulder. His students hold positions in full-time performing orchestras and premier military bands around the world, and they work as educators at colleges, universities, and public schools, and as arts administrators. Thornton was twice awarded the Marinus Smith Award for excellence in teaching. He works with talented young horn artists each summer at the Colorado College Summer Music Festival and the Boston University Tanglewood Institute.
In demand as a master clinician, Thornton has taught classes at the Shanghai Conservatory of Music, the Sydney Conservatorium of Music, the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, the Curtis Institute of Music, The Juilliard School, the Colburn Conservatory, Interlochen National Arts Camp, and numerous other prestigious colleges, workshops, and symposia. Upcoming appearances include engagements as a featured artist at the Taipei Brass Festival and the Panama Horn Festival.
“Professor Thornton is a nationally prominent and internationally respected artist-teacher, and he is among the most accomplished horn professors in his peer group nationally,” said Amy Porter, chair and professor of the Department of Winds & Percussion. “His combination of elite professional performance, demonstrated teaching success, and institutional leadership makes him an excellent fit for our department. He understands performance not only as presentation but also as inquiry, connecting his artistic work to pedagogy, repertoire expansion, and the training of students for contemporary professional realities.”
Thornton left his studies at The Juilliard School to accept the principal horn position with the Honolulu Symphony. He has performed and toured extensively as a guest with orchestras including the Philadelphia Orchestra, the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra, the Korean Broadcast Symphony, the Toronto Symphony Orchestra, the Aspen Chamber Orchestra, and others. His discography includes orchestral recordings on the Naxos, Koch, Hyperion, and BIS labels, and his two solo and chamber recordings, Inspired by Brahms and Passages, can be found on Albany Records.
Having performed on six continents, Thornton has appeared as a soloist with numerous orchestras and he has made chamber music appearances at many festivals. As a recital artist, he has performed at Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall, the Broad in Los Angeles, the Royal Northern College of Music, and several international horn symposia, among others.
Thornton’s primary teachers include Randy Gardner, Jerome Ashby, Julie Landsman, and J. Christopher Leuba. He attended Temple University, the Manhattan School of Music, and the Juilliard School.