R.J. Kelley

R.J. Kelley

R. J. Kelley is familiar to audiences throughout the US and abroad as soloist, chamber musician, and orchestral player.  His release of Mozart’s Complete Concerti for Horn on CD is a rare commercial success among classical recordings, with over eight thousand copies in circulation.  A former first prize winner and adjudicator of the American Horn Competition, Mr. Kelley has presented concerti by such masters as Mozart, Vivaldi, Bach, Rosetti, Telemann, and others, with such ensembles as Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra, Santa Fe Pro Musica, Handel and Haydn Society, the Orchestra of the Old Fairfield Academy, the Philadelphia Classical Symphony, the Connecticut Orchestra, the Connecticut Early Music Festival, Portland Baroque Orchestra, and Cappella Nuova – Stockholm.

A fixture among Manhattan ensembles, Kelley has been heard with the New York Philharmonic, New York City Ballet and Opera Orchestras, Orchestra of St. Luke’s, Orpheus, Brooklyn Philharmonic, American Composer’s Orchestra, Mostly Mozart Festival Orchestra, American Symphony, and others.

Currently solo horn with the Smithsonian Chamber Players, and the Strathmere Ensemble, Kelley is also a former member of both the Aspen and American Wind Quintets, and present solo horn of the Hora Decima Brass Ensemble.

National/international demand has lead to engagements which include the Royal Court Theater Orchestra at Drottningholm, Tafelmusik, Musica Antiqua St. Petersburg, CBC Vancouver, Korean Chamber Ensemble, Mexico City Philharmonic, Los Angeles Baroque Orchestra, The Governor’s Musicke (Williamsburg, VA), the original Broadway production of Jekyll & Hyde, and the Duke Ellington Orchestra (Carnivale di Venezia).

50+ recordings and television appearances span the range of music in the US, from Saturday Night Live (with Puff Daddy and Led Zeppelin legend Jimmy Page), Piano Grand! (PBS/host Billy Joel), Mozart’s Grand Partita (Hogwood/Amadeus Winds), Terrence Blanchard Jazz from the Movies, to Vivaldi’s Concerti for Diverse Instruments (with Nicholas McGegan and the Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra).

A product of self-education, Kelley is also in demand as a lecturer/educator specialising in the unique 350+ year history of the horn and its repertoire.  Presentations have included the International Horn Society, Historic Brass Society, Harvard Club, Rutgers University, Cincinnati Symphony, University of Montana-Bozeman, University of Michigan-Dearborn, and public schools throughout the San Francisco Bay  and New York City areas.