Ethel Merker

K. Ethel Merker (1923–2012) was a prominent freelance and orchestral horn player in Chicago, who collaborated with the Frank Holton Company on the design and development of the Merker-Matic line of horns.

Early life and education Kathryn Ethel Merker, known as Ethel, grew up in Chicago Heights, Illinois. and later with Philip Farkas and Arnold Jacobs, all members of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. Merker earned two degrees from Northwestern University: a bachelor of music education in 1946 and a master of music in 1947.

Career Merker performed as an orchestral horn player as well as in jazz, pop, and commercial settings. Beginning at age eighteen, she played principal horn in the Chicago NBC Radio Orchestra from 1941 to 1950, where she was the only woman. She also played with the Chicago Pops, Chicago Lyric Opera, Milwaukee Symphony, Berlin Radio Orchestra, New York City Ballet, New York City Opera, and the Boston Pops orchestras. of horn models. The Merker series horns are now discontinued.

Merker taught at Indiana University, DePaul University, the VanderCook College of Music, Northwestern University, and Valparaiso University. American horn player and historical horn maker Lowell Greer, and Associate Principal Horn of the Minnesota Orchestra Herbert Winslow.

Awards Honorary Doctor of Music degree, Vandercook College of Music, 1995 Pioneer Award, International Women's Brass Conference, 2000 Elected Honorary Member, International Horn Society, 2009