Mark Ridenour to retire after 31 seasons as CSO’s assistant principal trumpet

Mark Ridenour, assistant principal trumpet, will retire in June after 31 seasons as a member of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. His final concerts will be the four performances of Verdi’s Requiem (June 19-24) conducted by Riccardo Muti, the CSO’s Music Director Emeritus for Life.  
 
During his distinguished CSO tenure, Ridenour has performed under music directors Daniel Barenboim and Riccardo Muti, as well as Music Director Laureate Sir Georg Solti, Principal Conductor Bernard Haitink, Principal Guest Conductor Pierre Boulez and Zell Music Director Designate Klaus Mäkelä. Ridenour participated in 34 international tours, including the CSO’s first tours to South America and Mexico, as well as the 2025 European Tour that included performances at the Mahler Festival in Amsterdam with guest conductor Jaap van Zweden.   
 
Since his appointment in 1994, Ridenour has held the position of assistant principal trumpet. He first performed with CSO during the 1994 Ravinia Festival season. From 2003 to 2005, 2016 to 2019 and during the 2024-25 season, he performed as acting principal trumpet. Ridenour will be recognized with the CSO’s Theodore Thomas Medallion for Distinguished Service at a date to be announced.

Reflecting on his time in the CSO, Ridenour said: “It has been an honor to work with incredible musicians and share great music with audiences in Chicago, across the country and around the world as a member of this Orchestra. To touch the heart and the soul of the listener is the goal of any musician, and to connect to people through music is something that I hope I can continue to do whenever I have the opportunity. I am grateful for the memories of countless great performances and experiences during my years with the Orchestra.” 


Ridenour credits former CSO Principal Trumpet Adolph “Bud” Herseth​​ as his ultimate influence and mentor. They played together for ​almost a decade​, before Herseth’s retirement in 2004. Notable performances in which Ridenour and Herseth played together included the 1996 European tour performances of Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9, conducted by Solti, as well as 1997 performances of Brahms’ Symphony No. 2 and Mahler’s Symphony No. 2 (Resurrection) with Haitink.

Ridenour also recalls the generosity of Herseth, who lent him one of his own Bach E-flat trumpets to use in 2005 appearances as a soloist with the CSO in Hummel’s Trumpet Concerto with Nicholas McGegan conducting. 

Other CSO highlights include the 1995 performances and recording of Wagner’s Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg with the Chicago Symphony Chorus under Solti with soloists Karita Mattila, José van Dam, René Pape and Ben Heppner. It was later released as a commercial recording and won the 1997 Grammy Award for Best Opera recording. Additional highlights for Ridenour in that year include the Teldec release of African Portraits by American jazz trumpeter and composer Hannibal Lokumbe with Barenboim conducting.

As a member of the CSO brass section, Ridenour performed in the original Brass Buddies concerts initiated by Principal Trombone Jay Friedman in the 1990s, which included Friedman’s innovative arrangement of Strauss’ Alpine Symphony, written for more than a dozen brass musicians. He has also been part of the CSO Brass concerts that have grown to attract capacity audiences annually at Symphony Center.

For the popular “CSO Brass Live” recording released on the CSO Resound label, Ridenour was featured as performer and conductor in music of Bach and Gabrieli and in the music of Walton, Grainger, Revueltas and Prokofiev.

In addition to his past solo appearances with the CSO, Ridenour has performed as a soloist with the Florida Orchestra, Highland Park Strings and Roosevelt University Orchestra, as well as with brass bands in the United States and Canada. He is also heard on the Telarc release of Prokofiev’s Symphony No. 5 and Lieutenant Kijé and the Grammy Award-winning recording of Mussorgsky’s Pictures at an Exhibition and A Night on Bald Mountain with the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra. 

Ridenour began his professional career as third trumpet in the Lexington Philharmonic of Kentucky while a senior in college. He continued in this position through graduate school and also became a member of the Dayton Philharmonic of Ohio. He was then appointed to the trumpet section of the Memphis Symphony Orchestra of Tennessee, where he also served as acting principal trumpet his first season, before accepting the position of principal trumpet with the Florida Orchestra, where he spent six seasons before coming to Chicago.

Ridenour began playing the trumpet at the age of 10. His first private lesson came when he enrolled at Asbury College, where he earned a bachelor of arts degree. He earned a master of music degree at the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music and completed two years of doctoral studies.  
 
Among his other major influences and teachers are former New York Philharmonic principal trumpet and brass educator Philip Smith, former Cincinnati Symphony trumpets​ Marie Speziale ​and Philip Collins, and Eugene Blee, former principal trumpet at the Cincinnati Symphony, who was Ridenour’s primary trumpet professor at the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music.

Recognized as an acclaimed brass clinician, Ridenour has regularly been invited to lead masterclasses in Canada, Europe and Asia; he also has led masterclasses during CSO national and international tours.

The father of three adult children (Michele, Amanda and Matthew) with wife Linda, Ridenour plans to move to his farm in Kentucky, to enjoy spending more time outdoors, and with his children and grandchildren. He will continue to teach at the Wheaton College Conservatory of Music and participate regularly in performances with the Salvation Army ​Southern Staff Band.