He is a horn player raised in Stickney, Illinois to a musical family where his father was a singer and his brother a trumpeter. He studied with Richard Oldberg from the CSO and from 1969 to 1972 was a member of the Civic Orchestra of Chicago and the Chicago Youth Orchestra. He took further studies at the Chicago College of Performing Arts at Roosevelt University and when he was 19 years old became a member of the Rochester Philharmonic in 1973.
He went on to perform with Washington D.C.’s National Symphony Orchestra for a season before becoming a member of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra in 1975. He was appointed Associate Principal Horn by Daniel Barenboim in 2002 and was given the position of Acting Principal Horn from 2013 to 2019 by Riccardo Muti. Later in 2019 Riccardo Muti awarded him the title of “”honorary principal horn for life” in recognition for his six years of service as Acting Principal Horn”.
Performing as a guest musician he has played in Beijing with the China National Symphony as well as at home with the Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra and Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra. As a chamber musician and soloist he is a member of Chicago Pro Musica.
Recordings he has performed on include highlights from CCM’s First Ten Years 1986-1996 Vol. II by the Chicago Chamber Musicians, Igor Stravinsky/Rimsy-Korsakov: L’Histoire Du Soldat – Suite/Capriccio Espagnol, Early Chamber Works by Elliott Carter and The Medinah Sessions by Chicago Pro Musica, Samuel Barber: The Lovers; Prayers of the Kierkegaard, Corigliano: Symphony No. 1, Arnold Schonberg: Verklarte Nacht Op. 4/Piano Pieces Op. 11 & 19/Five Orchestral Pieces Op. 16, Wagner: Overtures and Preludes, Carter/Berio/Takemitsu: Partita/Continuo/Visions, Brahms: Violin Concerto/Sonata No. 3 and the soundtrack of the film Lincoln by the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Live by the Chicago Symphony Orchestra Brass, Brass Nation by Michael Davis and A Fresh Aire Christmas and Yellowstone: The Music of Nature by Mannheim Steamroller.
In the field of musical education he is a coach for the horn section of the Civic Orchestra of Chicago.
Sources:
- https://cso.org/about/performers/cso-musicians/brass/horn/daniel-gingrich/
- https://cso.org/experience/article/8184/bringing-it-all-back-home-daniel-gingrich-lau
- https://csosoundsandstories.org/daniel-gingrich-named-the-csos-honorary-principal-horn-for-life/
- https://chicagoclassicalreview.com/2019/11/hornist-gingrich-honored-at-cso-concert/
- https://slippedisc.com/2019/11/chicago-names-hon-principal-horn-for-life/
- https://www.allmusic.com/artist/daniel-gingrich-mn0001197669/credits
- https://www.discogs.com/artist/3162771-Daniel-Gingrich