Dale Clevenger

Dale Clevenger (July 2, 1940 – January 5, 2022) was an American musician who was the principal horn of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra from 1966 until his retirement in June, 2013. Before joining the CSO, he was a member of Leopold Stokowski's American Symphony Orchestra and the Symphony of the Air directed by Alfred Wallenstein. He was also principal horn of the Kansas City Philharmonic. He taught horn at the Jacobs School of Music in Indiana University.

Musical career Clevenger started playing trumpet at age 11, and switched to horn at age 13.

Clevenger received a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, in 1962. He considered Arnold Jacobs and Adolph Herseth, former principal brass instrumentalists of the CSO, to be his mentors.

Clevenger performed with many ensembles worldwide, including the Berlin Philharmonic (under Daniel Barenboim). He took part in many music festivals including the Santa Fe Chamber Music Festival, Florida Music Festival, Sarasota, Marrowstone Music Festival, Bellingham, Washington, and Affinis Music Festival, Japan.

He won a Grammy Award for "The Antiphonal Music of Gabrieli," which he recorded with members of the Chicago Symphony brass section, as well as the brass sections of the Philadelphia Orchestra and the Cleveland Orchestra. He expanded his conducting career with numerous orchestras in North and Central America, Europe, Asia, and Australia, recently leading the Orquestra Sinfonica de Castilla y Leon with Daniel Barenboim as soloist.

Clevenger was president of the Italian Brass Week and taught at Roosevelt University during his time in Chicago. After retirement from the CSO in 2013, he also taught at the Jacobs School of Music at Indiana University.

Critical reception Critics have written of his playing as being "satin smooth (1975)," as having "mellow radiance and gentle flow...despite a few inconsequential fluffs (1978)," and of his "pianissimo trills and daredevil octaves (1981)." He has also been said to have "an unfailing sense of direction in phrasing (1983)", "well drawn legato phrases" despite "regrettable lapses of intonation in the fast ornamental section (1984)" and "smooth control (1991)." In 2010, his horn solos received some negative reviews from music critics at The New York Times and the Chicago Tribune, with the latter describing his work as "unpredictable horn solos, some firm, others faltering. Flaws in a performance of Mahler's 3rd Symphony on November 1, 2012, were cited in three separate reviews, with the Chicago Sun-Times calling his performance "saddening".

Discography The Antiphonal Music of Gabrieli (1968) The Cleveland, Philadelphia, and Chicago Brass Ensembles Richard Burgin, conductor Britten: Serenade for Tenor, Horn and Strings Robert Tear (tenor), Chicago Symphonic Orchestra Carlo Maria Giulini, conductor Mozart: 3rd Horn Concerto K 447 (1985) Dale Clevenger, horn Chicago Symphony Orchestra Claudio Abbado, conductor Mozart: Four Horn Concertos (1996) Dale Clevenger, horn Franz Liszt Chamber Orchestra János Rolla, conductor Richard Strauss: Wind Concertos (2001) Dale Clevenger, horn Chicago Symphony Orchestra Daniel Barenboim, conductor The Chicago Principal: First Chair Soloist Play Famous Concertos (2003) Chicago Symphony Orchestra Haydn Horn Concertos (2006) Dale Clevenger, horn Franz Liszt Chamber Orchestra János Rolla, conductor Richard & Franz Strauss: Horn Concertos (2006) Steven Gross, horn Philharmonia Orchestra of Bratislava Dale Clevenger, conductor