Sydney Symphony Orchestra Names New Principal Horn

British horn player Sam Jacobs will step into the role

The Sydney Symphony Orchestra (SSO) has announced that the British horn player Sam Jacobs will serve as its new Principal Horn.

Jacobs was most recently Principal Horn (for the second stint) in the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra, and between those two periods he spent three years as Principal Horn of London's Royal Philharmonic Orchestra.

While in London, he appeared as Guest Principal with a number of leading orchestras, and he has worked in the same capacity with SSO and the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra — especially in the latter orchestra's 2016 Ring Cycle.

As a soloist, Jacobs has played the concerti of Haydn, Mozart, Hoffmann, Franz Strauss, Richard Strauss, and John Rimmer. His performance of Mozart’s Fourth Horn Concerto with Sinfonia Viva was broadcast on Classic FM, and he toured this concerto with the NZSO in 2016.

He has also recorded on the Deutsche Grammophon, Dutton Epoch, RPO, and LSO Live labels, as well as completing numerous live BBC Radio 3 broadcasts.

As a pedagogue, he has given masterclasses at the Royal Academy of Music, the Royal College of Music, and the Royal Northern College of Music. He presently teaches the horn in the New Zealand School of Music at Victoria University of Wellington.

"Welcome and congratulations to Samuel Jacobs, our new Principal Horn!" the orchestra wrote on social media.

You can hear Jacobs speak about his playing below.