David Ohanian Happy to be back in Boston Cornucopia, September 2000

David Ohanian, known to many Bostonians as a member of the BSO and Empire Brass before his 12-year tenure with Canadian Brass, is happy to be back in Boston, even though it was not really a planned return.

David grew up in Connecticut, near NYC, and studied with Mark Fisher of the NY Phil during high school. He heard many performances then, but it was the BSO, on tour, that impressed him most. "Hearing that concert, and then listening to recordings of [then BSO principal James] Stagliano blew me away," he recalls. "I wanted to study with Stagliano, and that's why I came to NEC."

By the time he graduated in 1967, David was playing in a brass quintet, a woodwind quintet, the opera, ballet, and Boston Philharmonic, free-lancing, and extra in the BSO. The way he became a regular BSO member is unusual. In March 1970 he won a position in Chicago, but Stagliano appealed to then BSO music director William Steinberg to say that the orchestra shouldn't lose him. On the basis of David's experience in the BSO, his win in Chicago, and the backing of the rest of the horn section, he was offered third horn, a position that he held until 1981, when the Emprire Brass became full time. He joined the Canadian Brass in 1986.

When asked to compare the Empire and Canadian Brass, David sums it up as follows. "Empire Brass has always been a collection of soloists who come together to play chamber music. Their performances are magnificent and the recordings are truly dazzling, but the concept, particularly in the early days, was to be like a string quartet. That has changed over the years, so now the two groups, conceptually, are more similar."

"Canadian Brass never thought like brass players, but instead concentrated on building an audience by thinking like entertainers. The emphasis was always on the group." In the early years, Canadian Brass played hundreds of children's concerts, treating each as a workshop, analyzing how they could better connect with the audience. "They opened a new avenue for other brass groups to follow."

But because of their success, the Canadian Brass has a gruelling schedule ("Be careful what you wish for," jokes David). With no time for any other muscial outlet, David grew weary of life on the road and left in 1998 for a position at the University of Southern Florida in Tampa. This brought him near his daughter and his parents and enabled him to accept a wide variety of other musical outlets. Of teaching, he says, "I believe it is a performer's duty to pass along what he has learned."

David recently married bassoonist Suzanne Nelson, then of the Montreal Symphony. When Suzanne won a position with the BSO, David naturally considered moving back to Boston with her. "It was the only way I could see to live with my wife!" He has joined the faculty at Boston Conservatory, where he will be horn instructor, chamber music coach, and one of the conductors of the repertory orchesta. As a Yamaha artist, he'll continue to give masterclasses and judge competitions. The Transatlantic Quartet, of which he is a member, will be touring, and he will be playing in the BSO again, as a sub for Jay Wadenpfuhl, who is on sabbatical this year. "Boston has a bigger base for free-lancing than ever before," he says.

"I really never envisioned returning to Boston," concludes David, "but isn't life interesting."

David is host of the 2002 Northeast Horn Workshop. Email David. Transatlantic Horn Quartet site

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