Oto
Carrillo was appointed to the Chicago Symphony Orchestra horn section by Daniel
Barenboim in 2000.
A native of
Guatemala, Carrillo grew up in Chicago, admiring the CSO and its wonderful horn
section while receiving a bachelor’s degree in music performance from DePaul
University and master’s degree in both music performance and musicology from
Northwestern University. His teachers were Jon Boen, principal horn of the
Lyric Opera of Chicago and Gail Williams, former associate principal of the
CSO. After graduating, he won positions with the Memphis and Cedar Rapids
orchestras, and he was able to continue playing in Chicago for two seasons as a
member of the Civic Orchestra, coached by Dale Clevenger. He also has performed
with the Boston Symphony Orchestra and Metropolitana Orchestra of Lisbon,
Portugal as well as having had featured roles in Chicago-based ensembles such
as the Chicago Sinfonietta, Music of the Baroque, Chicago Philharmonic and
Lyric Opera of Chicago. In addition, Carrillo has played in various summer
festivals with such orchestras as the National Repertory Orchestra, National
Orchestral Institute, Tanglewood Music Center Orchestra, Grant Park Orchestra, Mostly
Mozart Festival in Woodstock, Illinois and Grand Teton Music Festival
Orchestra. Prior to his appointment to the CSO, Carrillo held positions in the
South Bend and Southwest Michigan Symphony Orchestras.
Carrillo
has collaborated with numerous chamber groups such as the Chicago Chamber Musicians,
musicians from the MusicNow series,
and he was a member of the Millar Brass Ensemble whose performances have been
recorded on the Delos and Koss labels. In addition, Carrillo has been a soloist
with various groups in and outside the Chicago area performing works by Bach,
Strauss and Mozart, as well as giving the Chicago premiere of Augusta Read
Thomas’ Silver Chants the Litanies for
horn and chamber orchestra. He has collaborated with his colleagues in the CSO
horn section to perform Schumann’s Concertstucke
For Four Horns with the Chicago Youth Symphony, the Civic Orchestra and
most recently, the CSO.
As an
instructor, Carrillo has given many master classes at various institutions. Currently,
he is on faculty at DePaul University and the Symphony Orchestra Academy of the
Pacific (SOAP), a unique summer training program for aspiring young orchestral
musicians set in British Columbia.
Outside of playing horn, Carrillo
enjoys savoring and occasionally brewing excellent craft beer, woodworking,
playing sports of all types especially basketball and the company of his wife
Sarah, a freelance trumpet player, and their two brass playing children, Lucas
and Isabelle.
September
2012
