Oto Carillo has been a member of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra (CSO) horn section since 2000. He also has performed with the National Orchestra of Mexico, the Metropolitana Orchestra of Lisbon, and the Boston Symphony Orchestra as well as Chicago based ensembles such the Chicago Philharmonic, Lyric Opera of Chicago and as a member of Music of the Baroque. Summer festival credits include the National Repertory Orchestra, the National Orchestral Institute, the Tanglewood Music Center, Mostly Mozart Festival in Woodstock, IL., the Grant Park Orchestra, and the Grand Teton Music Festival. Prior to his appointment to the Chicago Symphony, Carrillo played in the Civic Orchestra and held positions in the South Bend and Southwest Michigan Symphony Orchestras.
Oto has collaborated with numerous chamber groups such as Civitas, the Chicago Chamber Musicians, Dempster Street Pro Musica and the Vetta Chamber Series in Vancouver. In addition, he has soloed with various groups in and outside the Chicago area and gave the Chicago premiere of Augusta Read Thomas’ Silver Chants the Litanies for horn and chamber orchestra. He has also collaborated with his colleagues in the CSO horn section to perform Schumann’s Konzertstücke for Four Horns with the Chicago Youth Symphony, the Civic Orchestra, and most recently, the CSO.
Oto has been on faculty at DePaul University since 2003 where he also received a Distinguished Alumni Award, and had previously taught at the Pacific Region International Summer Music Academy (PRISMA) in Powell River, BC. for ten summers.
James Smelser joined the Chicago Symphony Orchestra as Second Horn in the Spring of 2000, fulfilling a lifelong dream of becoming a member of the Orchestra, with which he had played as a regular extra since 1986. In addition, Jim has been a member of the Civic Orchestra.
Born in Chicago, Jim was raised in a musical household in Joliet. His mother, a violinist, was a school orchestra director, and his father, a tubist, was a band director, and all five of the children played instruments. Both his parents attended Northwestern University, where his father studied with Arnold Jacobs, then Principal Tuba of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra thus beginning a long family tradition of CSO influence. Jim's father was his first teacher and his second teacher, former CSO hornist Frank Brouk, continued the Orchestra affiliation.
Following high school, where he became interested in travel, music, and German, Jim attended Northwestern University, and studied with former CSO Second Hornist Norman Schweikert. His other interests led him to interrupt his work at Northwestern to study with Gerd Seifert, then Principal Horn of the Berlin Philharmonic, at the Hochschule der Knste in Berlin. Returning to Evanston, he studied with CSO Principal Horn Dale Clevenger, graduating with honors from Northwestern with a double major in music and German language and literature. He also holds bachelor's and master's degrees in music.
Since graduation, Jim has had a varied and extensive career in Chicago and elsewhere. He played over 15 years of Broadway shows, ballet, and radio and TV commercials. In addition, he has served as Principal Horn with the Philharmonia Hungarica and the Deutsche Oper am Rhein in Dsseldorf, Germany, as well as Utility Horn with the San Francisco Symphony. He also has performed with the Goettingen Symphonie Orchester, Dresden Staatskapelle, Israel Philharmonic and the Shanghai Radio Symphony Orchestra. In the Summer of 2010, Jim appeared as a soloist with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra in Schumann's Konzertstck at the Ravinia Festival. He is currently the brass instructor for Den Nye Opera Academy in Bergen, Norway. Jim lives in Mt. Prospect with his two children, Audrina and Mitchell.
Neil Kimel’s career as a horn player began as anything but a traditional or predictable one. After receiving a B.A. in Cinema Studies from the University of Wisconsin – Milwaukee, he was invited to join the New World Symphony in Miami Beach, Florida where he performed under the baton of its music director, Michael Tilson Thomas. Neil then returned to his home town of Chicago where diverse performance opportunities included backing up various acts on Oprah Winfrey’s popular television show, flying to Hawaii to perform with soprano Charlotte Church, playing in a pit for a Broadway show in New York City, and recording numerous commercial jingles. Summers were filled with performances with many festival orchestras including Spoleto USA, the National Orchestral Institute, and the Tanglewood Music Center where Mr. Kimel was awarded both the C.D. Jackson Memorial Prize and the Harry Shapiro Award for Outstanding Brass Playing. He then won the position of second horn with Chicago’s Grant Park Orchestra in 2000 with whom he has recorded numerous times. The winters found Mr. Kimel fleeing Chicago’s cold and snow for sunshine and warmth as third horn with the Sarasota (FL) Opera Orchestra. Additionally, Neil has performed with the Symphony Orchestras of Kansas City, Nashville, Milwaukee, St. Louis, Toronto, Chicago and the Cleveland Orchestra with whom he toured to Vienna playing in the famed Musikverein.
Sir Andrew Davis appointed Mr. Kimel as second horn of the Lyric Opera Orchestra of Chicago in 2008. When Neil leaves the opera pit, he is the principal horn of the Chicago Philharmonic with whom he has appeared as soloist, a member of Tower Brass of Chicago, as well as a chamber music coach at Northwestern University and Adjunct Professor of Horn at DePaul University. Privately and in masterclasses around the country, Mr. Kimel coaches musicians of all instruments in audition preparation and mental techniques that lead players to a more consistent performance.