Corbin Wagner, a highly regarded horn performer, teacher, and longtime member of the Detroit Symphony Orchestra (DSO), has been appointed associate professor of horn (tenure track) in the MSU College of Music after an extensive national search.

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. In 1989 he earned a master’s degree from the University of Michigan. Before his appointment to the faculty of the MSU College of Music, he served as adjunct horn professor at Oakland University, the University of Michigan, and Wayne State University.

Wagner will complete his final season as a member of DSO in the spring and will be relocating to East Lansing.  He will be teaching applied horn and chamber music, and will continue his performing career as a collaborative and solo artist on campus and beyond including engagements with the Beaumont Brass Quintet. 

“Corbin is one of the most accomplished orchestral horn and chamber music performers in the country,” says James Forger, dean of the MSU College of Music. “He will bring extensive knowledge of solo, orchestral, and chamber musicianship and a commitment as well as proven effectiveness in teaching, outreach, and engagement to the MSU campus and the broader community.”

"It is truly a thrill to be on the faculty at MSU College of Music.  It is a great climax to my career to teach along side of my friends and long-time performance colleagues," says Corbin Wagner.

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 in hand horn, valve horn, and horn quartet. In 1989 and again in 2002, Wagner joined three of his colleagues and the DSO in performing Robert Schumann’s Konzertstück for four horns and orchestra. In 1994 he performed Strauss’s Horn Concerto No. 2 as a guest with the Farmington Philharmonic; in 1998 he performed Mozart’s Horn Concerto No. 4 with the Pontiac Oakland Symphony. He has performed the Britten Serenade with the Oakland Symphony Orchestra in 2009 and 2011.

Wagner, known as an exceptional chamber musician and collaborative artist, also performs with the Detroit Chamber Winds and Strings. He is an experienced clinician, giving clinics around the country. He is owner of a horn music publishing company called Cornopub.

Wagner will be featured in the College of Music’s next Joanne and Bill Church West Circle Series concert, “Happy Birthday Mozart” on January 27 and 28, performing the Mozart’s famous Horn Quintet. More information about this concert can be found at http://music.msu.edu/event-listing/sunday-127-300-pm-and-monday-128-730-pm-happy-birthday-mozart