William Hammond

(Teaching Associate Professor)

From chamber music concerts in Amsterdam's famed Concertgebouw and the Brahmasaal in Vienna to performances and master classes given at the Central Music College in Beijing, William Hammond has appeared around the world as a French Hornist. One of the few concert performers on the 18th century natural horn, Dr. Hammond presented the first natural horn solo recital in Carnegie Hall. Renowned hornist and musicologist Horace Fitzpatrick called him “an eloquent musical ambassador ” of the valveless predecessor of the modern instrument. Because of its incomparable beauty and expressiveness of sound, the natural horn was preferred over the early valve horn, by composers such as Brahms.

Dr. Hammond has been heard as an orchestral player with the Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra, Boston Symphony Orchestra, Boston Pops, Sarah Caldwell´s American National Opera Company and as horn soloist with the Mantovani Orchestra. He has appeared as a chamber soloist at the Berkshire Music Center (Tanglewood) and premiered a solo work composed for him at New York´s Chautauqua Music Festival, which was broadcast over National Public Radio. International competitions include the Heldenleben International Natural Horn Competition and the Perpignon, France Concours Internationale Gallay.

Dr. Hammond has served on the faculties of three universities and pursued funded research at the Bibliotheque Nationale in Paris and the British Museum in London. In this capacity, he has given lecture-recitals before the American Society for 18th Century Studies and the International Horn Society. He joined the applied music faculty of the University of Missouri – St. Louis in 1998 and continues a busy schedule of solo recitals, concerto appearances, master classes and lecture-demonstrations.

Contact Information

314 516-4912
hammondw@msx.umsl.edu