Mark Almond, principal horn: mixing two worlds — music and medicine

Name: Mark Almond, principal horn

First season: 2022–23

Hometown: Bolton, England

Education: Cambridge and Oxford universities; Imperial College, London

What’s your connection between music and medicine?

Before I became a horn player in the United States I worked as an MD/PhD, specializing in pulmonology, internal medicine and virology research in London teaching hospitals. I’ve always been passionate about both music and medicine, and I was fortunate enough to combine both careers for a while. I started as a substitute musician with the London Symphony Orchestra when I was 19 and later secured a job with the Philharmonia Orchestra (under Christoph von Dohnányi) during my medical studies.

I left medicine behind in 2016 when I moved to the U.S. to become the principal horn of the San Francisco Opera Orchestra. However, when I joined the San Francisco Symphony Orchestra in 2020 (under Esa-Pekka Salonen), the pandemic struck, concert halls closed, and I returned to clinical research at the University of California at San Francisco to study the COVID-19 virus. Coincidentally, my doctoral research was published in the journal Nature during my initial weeks with the CSO. 

Which pieces are you most anticipating this season?

I’m thrilled to be performing Mahler 7 this season (April 17-19). The Solti/CSO recording was the first CD I ever bought, and I listened to the opening of the finale repeatedly to savor the exhilarating brass playing. I’m also excited to play the “Field of Dreams” soundtrack (May 30-June 1). The score [by James Horner] begins with a captivating and haunting horn call, originally recorded by my friend James Thatcher. I’m certain the performances of Mahler’s Third Symphony with Maestro Mäkelä (April 24-26) also will be memorable. I’m particularly looking forward to these as my son, James, will be singing in the children’s chorus.

Offstage, I like: 

When I’m not performing at Orchestra Hall, I thoroughly enjoy teaching my horn studio at Roosevelt University’s Chicago College of Performing Arts. Apart from teaching, I also relish my hobbies of cooking, climbing, watching mindless action movies and spending quality time with my family.