Corbin Wagner

ABOUT

Corbin Wagner is a highly regarded horn performer, teacher, and longtime member of the Detroit Symphony Orchestra. He is currently the Associate Professor of Horn at Michigan State University.

Kansas City-born Wagner received a bachelor’s degree in 1979 from the University of Michigan, where he studied with Professor Louis Stout. Upon graduation he became a member of the Detroit Symphony Orchestra, retiring in 2013. In 1989 he earned a master’s degree from the University of Michigan. He became the associate professor of horn in the Michigan State University College of Music in 2012 and has served as adjunct horn professor at Oakland University, the University of Michigan, and Wayne State University.

Wagner has received many prestigious performing honors, including third prize at the 1983 Munich International Horn Competition. He also took first prize at the Heldenleben International Horn Competition, now called the International Horn Competition of America, in hand horn, valve horn, and horn quartet. He has performed as soloist in the Detroit area, including performances of Schumann Konzertstuck, Strauss Concerto #2, Mozart Concerto #4, the Britten Serenade, Shindig by Godfrey, the Mozart Quintet, and the Brahms Trio. He has also performed as a soloist at five horn workshops, including the 2018 Muncie Symposium. Wagner was a judge at the 2017 and 2019 International Horn Competition of America.

In 2014, Wagner released his first CD, The Wagner Trio. This cd features new works for the ensemble of soprano, horn and piano.

In 2018 he released his second CD, Emociones del Alma. Wagner is actively expanding the repertoire for this group through commissions. He commissioned works for this CD in the Spanish language. That CD is just recently available.

Wagner was a 30-year member of the Detroit Chamber Winds and Strings, and is currently a member of the Peninsula Music Festival, playing fourth horn. He performs regularly with the Palm Beach Opera, the Grand Rapids Symphony Orchestra, and the Detroit Symphony Orchestra. To keep artistically sharp, Wagner now performs as principal horn of the Traverse Symphony Orchestra and the Lansing Symphony Orchestra. He is an experienced clinician, giving clinics around the country. Wagner and his wife, Wendy, have five grown children and are richly blessed by God.