“Outstanding” — an “excellent soloist.”The New York Times
Biography
Trevor Nuckols is Principal Horn of the Evergreen Symphony Orchestra, having been appointed by Jaap van Zweden in 2026. His career encompasses solo, chamber, and orchestral performance, with appearances at many of the world’s leading concert halls and festivals.
Praised by The New York Times as “outstanding” and an “excellent soloist,” he won the Gold Medal at the Vienna International Music Competition, First Prize at the International Horn Society Premiere Soloist Competition, and the Barry Tuckwell Award of the International Horn Society. He is also the winner of the Juilliard Concerto Competition, the Music Academy of the West Competition, and Sweden’s North International Music Competition.
Prior to his appointment to the Evergreen Symphony Orchestra, Nuckols served as Solo Horn of the Münchener Kammerorchester and was an Artist with the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center. As guest principal horn, he has performed and recorded with the Boston Symphony Orchestra, the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra, the Mozarteum Salzburg Orchestra, and the Philharmonie Salzburg.
He has appeared as a featured artist at the Marlboro Music Festival and the Lucerne Festival, and has been a fellow of the Tanglewood Music Center, the Pacific Music Festival, the Music Academy of the West, the Sarasota Music Festival, and the New York String Orchestra Seminar.
His recordings include the solo albums LA Sessions and Pacific Harmony, featuring pianist Linda Avery in programmes exploring the repertoire for horn and piano alongside new arrangements. He also appears on Concertante! with the Münchener Kammerorchester and Les Vents Français, as well as in live broadcasts with the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center.
Chamber music has remained an important part of his musical activity. As co-founder of Duo Corgano with organist David Ball, he has explored repertoire from the early Baroque to newly commissioned works, presenting programmes in venues chosen for their exceptional acoustic and architectural character. He has also commissioned and premiered new works alongside the established literature of the instrument.
Alongside his performing career, Nuckols has devoted many years to the study of the history of horn playing from the Baroque through the middle of the twentieth century, with particular emphasis on the British, French, Austro-German, and Czech traditions. He has lectured and given master classes at Seoul National University, the Tokyo College of Music, New York University, and the University of Cartagena.
Nuckols received his earliest musical training with Michael Corcoran before continuing his studies with Gene Berger at the Interlochen Arts Academy. He subsequently earned Bachelor and Master of Music degrees from The Juilliard School as a student of R. J. Kelley, where he held a Kovner Fellowship and undertook a period of study at the Conservatoire de Paris as a SYLFF Fellow. He later pursued postgraduate studies with Radovan Vlatković at the Universität Mozarteum Salzburg.
His musical development has been influenced by Barry Tuckwell, Frøydis Ree Wekre, Gerd Seifert, Roland Berger, Jens McManama, and Lowell Greer.
Nuckols performs exclusively on custom-built instruments, including a B-flat Alexander horn, a Ricco Kühn double horn, a Lawson descant horn, and a nineteenth-century Raoux–Millereau piston horn.