Daniel Gingrich grew up in Stickney, Illinois. He was a member of the Chicago Youth Orchestra and the Civic Orchestra of Chicago (1969–72) while studying with the Chicago Symphony’s Richard Oldberg. After attending Roosevelt University’s Chicago Musical College (now Chicago College of Performing Arts), he joined the Rochester Philharmonic at the age of 19. He played with the National Symphony Orchestra of Washington, D.C. for one season before joining the Chicago Symphony Orchestra in 1975. In 2002, Daniel Barenboim appointed him associate principal horn and, most recently, at the request of Riccardo Muti, Dan served as acting principal horn of the orchestra from 2013 until 2019.
Gingrich has served as guest principal horn with the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra, the Saint Louis Symphony and the China National Symphony in Beijing.
Active as a soloist and chamber musician, Gingrich is a member of the Grammy Award-winning Chicago Pro Musica. He also coaches the horn section of the Civic Orchestra of Chicago.
