Brass Mentors
Caroline Kinsey, a native of San Antonio, TX, is Principal Horn with the Memphis Symphony Orchestra after 11 years as Principal Horn of the Arkansas Symphony, Little Rock, AR. She received her Bachelor of Music degree and Performer’s Certificate from the Eastman School of Music in 1990 and her Professional Studies Certificate from the Cleveland Institute of Music in 1993. Ms. Kinsey has toured throughout Europe and Japan, and has played and been a member of several orchestras across the United States including the Honolulu Symphony, the Corpus Christi Symphony, Pro Musica Chamber Orchestra (Columbus, OH), and the Canton (OH) Symphony Orchestra. Other orchestral appearances have been with the San Antonio Symphony, Nashville Symphony, Illinois Symphony, the National Repertory Orchestra, the Hawaii Opera Company, and the National Orchestral Institute.
Before coming to Memphis in 2005, Caroline was co-founder and principal horn of the Pinnacle Players Music Festival in Little Rock, AR as well as Music Librarian and Outreach Services Coordinator for the Arkansas Symphony. She was also Horn Instructor at the University of Mississippi “Ole Miss”, Horn Lecturer at the University of Central Arkansas, Ouachita Baptist University and The University of Arkansas at Monticello.
Currently, in addition to the MSO, Caroline is Manager of Lukas Horns, a custom French horn building business. And last but certainly not least she is a mom to her amazing 11 year old son, Lukas, their doggy, Clark and newest family member, kitty Clover!
Ms. Kinsey performs on a Lukas Horn L Model
Caroline Kinsey, Horn
2022 Festival Musician
Scott Moore is the Principal Trumpeter of the Memphis Symphony Orchestra. He has also performed with the Chicago Symphony, the St. Louis Symphony, the Baltimore Symphony, the National Symphony, and as guest principal with the symphony orchestras of Atlanta, Toronto, and Jacksonville. He has recorded and performed with the Nashville Chamber Orchestra, and with I Fiamminghi, the Orchestra of Flanders. Mr. Moore is also the leader of the MSO Big Band.
As a soloist, Mr. Moore has appeared with the San Antonio Symphony, the Nashville Chamber Orchestra, the Tennessee Summer Symphony, the Chattanooga Symphony, and on numerous occasions with the Memphis Symphony. He has also been a featured Guest Artist at the International Trumpet Guild Conference.
Scott Moore has a Master of Music degree from the New England Conservatory of Music, and a Bachelor of Arts degree from McNeese State University. His teachers have included Charles Schlueter, Arnold Jacobs, and Michael Ewald.
Scott Moore, Trumpet,
2022 Festival Musician
Ross Ahlhorn, Trumpet
2022 Festival Musician
International performing artist, Dr. Ross Ahlhorn, currently serves as Assistant Professor of Trumpet at the University of Central Arkansas and Second Trumpet with the Arkansas Symphony Orchestra and is a Hot Springs Music Festival alum. A recent first prize winner in the Golden Classical International Music Competition and the Grand Prize Virtuoso International Competition, Dr. Ahlhorn was invited to perform solo at the Weill Recital Hall in Carnegie Hall in New York, and the Wiener Saal at the Mozarteum in Salzburg, Austria.
Dr. Ahlhorn comes to Conway from the Shenandoah Valley in central Virginia where he was on faculty at James Madison University, Washington and Lee University, and Southern Virginia University, where he taught applied trumpet, applied horn, and Brass Techniques courses for Music Education majors. In addition to his performing and teaching duties, Dr. Ahlhorn maintained an active freelance presence in the Shenandoah Valley and Central Virginia region where he held the principal trumpet chair with the Waynesboro Symphony, performed with the acclaimed Staunton Music Festival Orchestra in Staunton, Virginia, the Madison Brass, the Charlottesville Symphony Orchestra, the Massanutten Brass Band, and the Shenandoah-University Symphony Orchestra in Lexington, Virginia.
Dr. Ahlhorn has performed as assistant solo cornetist in the Salt River Brass, both principal and second trumpet in the Musica Nova Orchestra of Scottsdale, Arizona. Other important performances include soloist and principal orchestral roles at the Sulzbach-Rosenberg International Music Festival in Sulzbach-Rosenberg, Germany, 2nd trumpet with Orchestra Next, the orchestra in residence with the Eugene Ballet (Oregon), and the 2013 and 2017 International Trumpet Guild Annual Conferences.
Dr. Ahlhorn completed his Doctor of Musical Arts in Trumpet Performance, Pedagogy, and Literature at James Madison University, in Harrisonburg, Virginia where he served as graduate assistant for Dr. Chris Carrillo. He received a Masters of Music from Arizona State University with Prof. David Hickman and a Bachelors of Music in from Baylor University as a student of Wiff Rudd. Dr. Ahlhorn is proud to be an S.E. Shires Co. Performing Artist.
James T. Decker, Associate Professor of Trombone, holds the Master of Music Education degree from Herbert H. Lehman College, the Master of Music degree from the Juilliard School, and the Bachelor of Music degree from the Juilliard School. He has performed with a wide range of ensembles, including the Honolulu Symphony Orchestra, where he served as Principal Trombonist for 17 years, the Britt Festival Orchestra, the Tucson and New Mexico Symphony Orchestras, and various brass chamber groups. Mr. Decker solo career has included several recitals at premier universities throughout the United States as well as several solo performances of significant works with ensemble accompaniment, including the Samuel Jones Trombone Concerto “Vita Accademica” and the John Mackey “Harvest Concerto”. His commercial experience includes performances with Wycliffe Gordon, Diana Krall, Michael McDonald, Al Jarreau, Toto, Ray Charles, Burt Bacharach, Toni Tennille, Lou Rawls, Sammy Davis Jr., Natalie Cole, The Temptations and Christopher Cross. His teaching experience is extensive, with experience as an instructor of trombone, euphonium, jazz, and full symphonic band at the elementary, junior and high school levels in addition to private studio and classroom teaching at the college level. His principal teachers were Joseph Alessi, Steve Norrell, Jim Pugh, Edward Herman, Vincent Penzarella, and Jerome Callet.
James Decker, Trombone & Tuba, 2022 Festival Musician
