Erik Ralske
Programs
College Orchestral Institute
High School Orchestral Institute
Erik Ralske was appointed by Maestro James Levine as Principal Horn of the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra beginning with the 2010-2011 season. On July 6, 2010 he was featured in a front-page article in the New York Times for having won both the MET Opera position and the Los Angeles Philharmonic Principal Horn position in the same week.
Prior to joining the MET Orchestra, he was a member of the New York Philharmonic, initially as Third Horn and later as Acting Associate Principal Horn for 6 seasons. During his tenure with the New York Philharmonic, Mr. Ralske was a soloist with the orchestra over a dozen times with former Music Directors Kurt Masur and Lorin Maazel, in New York, as well as on tour in Europe and South America. Other previous orchestra positions include Associate Principal Horn with the Houston Symphony Orchestra and Principal Horn with the Vancouver Symphony and Florida Symphony Orchestras.
In addition to his regular position at the MET, Mr. Ralske has been a guest Principal of many of the world’s greatest orchestras, including the Philadelphia Orchestra, Cleveland Orchestra, LA Philharmonic, Dallas Symphony, and the Staatskapelle Berlin. He has made solo and masterclass appearances not only throughout North America, but also in Asia, Europe, and South America. He has spent summers as a faculty member at the Aspen Music Festival and Taipei Music Academy and Festival, in addition to performing at the summer festivals Classical Tahoe, and La Jolla Chamber Music Festival. Erik has long been active in the recording industry, having performed on many movie soundtracks —from Oliver Stone’s “Platoon”, to many recent releases, such as “Joker” and “Barbie”. His live performance of Siegfried’s Horn Call from the MET Opera’s HD broadcast of Wagner’s Ring cycle was chosen as a MET Opera “Ring” Tone for downloads on iTunes. He also currently serves as Principal Horn of the All-Star Orchestra, a series on PBS.
Mr. Ralske is on the faculty of the Juilliard School, and Mannes College of Music. He received both his Bachelor of Music and Master of Music degrees from the Juilliard School. His primary teachers were Ranier DeIntinis, John Cerminaro. and Paul Rudoff.