Abel Pereira was born in Porto (Portugal) in the late '70s, was appointed Principal Horn of the National Symphony Orchestra in 2014 by Christoph Eschenbach, and has been the Music Director of Eclipse Chamber Orchestra since 2016.

After his first solo performance at the age of 11, he has developed an intense concert and masterclass schedule in many international music festivals around Europe, North and South America, Asia, Africa, and the Middle East. He majored in French Horn at the Porto University, got a master's degree in Orchestra Performance from the Frankfurt Hochschule fur Music, attended post-grad in Orchestra conducting at the Royal Academy of Music in London, and got a PhD from the Porto University in 2012. During his training, he was a member of the Portuguese Youth Orchestra, Ibero-American Youth Orchestra, Mediterranean Youth Orchestra, and European Youth Orchestra. Awarded in several international music competitions, he won third prize in Leeuwarden International Horn Competition (Holland), second prize in Markneukirchen Contest (Germany), first prize in Concertino Praga (Czech Republic), first prize in National Wind Competition (Portugal), first prize from Conservatory Souza Lima (Brazil), first prize at the National Radio Competition (Portugal) and first prize of the European Master-Prize (England).

He was a founding member and Music Director of the ARZTIZ Woodwind Quintet, Porto Brass Quintet, as well as Music Director and Executive Director of the Portuguese Horn Ensemble and Ensemble Musica Nova. During his career, he has been invited to perform, teach, and conduct in some of the most prestigious international music festivals and music schools around the world such as Miami Summer Music Festival, New Hampshire HALCYON, Stellenbosch Chamber Music Festival, Festival de Musique de Besançon, Ossiach Austria Festspiel, Salzburg Festival, BBC Proms, Diaghilev Festival Perm, Athens Music Fest, Baden-Baden Festspiel, Berlin Festspiel, Manly Mozart Festival, and Schleswig Holstein. He has participated in more than 50 recordings for Sony, EMI classics, Universal, Deutsch Gramophone, LPO records, and Naxus, and his solo discography includes the Mozart Horn Concerti, Romantic Repertoire for Horn and Piano, R. Strauss First Horn Concerto, Mozart Sinfonia Concertante, and Candido Lima modern repertoire for Horn and Piano. In 2000, he recorded the Mozart Second Horn Concerto for the ongoing BBC TV show Mozart for Children. Abel was also a professor at Lisbon University and Porto University Peabody Conservatory, and a guest professor at Miami University, Indiana University, Curtis Institute, Lynn University, University of Maryland, Kansas City University, Memphis University, University of Shenandoah, Royal College of Music, Guildhall School of Drama and Music, and Berlin Hoshchule fur Musik. He was also in the jury for the European Union Youth Orchestra for ten years. He has played principal horn and guest principal with the Porto Symphony Orchestra, Barcelona Symphony, Chamber Orchestra of Europe, Frankfurt Radio Symphony, Dallas Symphony, Philadelphia Orchestra, LA Philharmonic, London Philharmonic, Chicago Symphony, and Berlin Philharmonic.

In addition to his career as a horn player, he has been developing an intense activity as a conductor leading orchestras throughout Europe and North and South America. He was also Principal Conductor of the NSO/Summer Music Institute Youth Orchestra at the Kennedy Center from 2017 to 2021. Abel plays an Alexander 103 model with a V. Bach 3 mouthpiece. His hobbies include cooking and sailing.

William Gerlach was appointed Principal Trumpet of the National Symphony Orchestra by Christoph Eschenbach in 2014. He grew up in Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin, where he studied with Mark Niehaus of the Milwaukee Symphony throughout high school. He attended Indiana University for his undergraduate degree under the instruction of John Rommel, and he spent time working on his master's degree at Northwestern University and Rice University with Barbara Butler, Charles Geyer, and Christopher Martin.

Gerlach has performed as guest principal trumpet with the New York Philharmonic and Philadelphia Orchestra. He’s been a faculty member at the National Symphony Orchestra's Summer Music Institute, Aspen Music Festival and School, DePaul School of Music, and Curtis Summerfest. He is currently adjunct faculty at the Peabody Conservatory in Baltimore, Maryland.

During the Spring of 2021, Gerlach teamed up with Russel Weismann to record Heroic Expressions, a collection of works for trumpet and organ by Henri Tomasi, Jean Langlais, and Georg Philipp Telemann. Gerlach is a Yamaha performing artist.

Michael Harper joined the National Symphony Orchestra as Assistant Principal Trumpet in July 2022. He was previously a member of the Jacksonville Symphony for five seasons, serving as second trumpet as well as acting principal. While in Florida, he taught at Jacksonville University and the University of North Florida. Harper has performed with the St. Louis Symphony as guest principal, as well as with the Philadelphia Orchestra, Boston Symphony, Sydney Symphony, and Cleveland Orchestra. He has spent his summers at many music festivals, including Britt, Lakes Area, Tanglewood, Verbier, Interlochen, and NSO Summer Music Institute, where he studied with former NSO principal trumpet Steven Hendrickson. Winner of the CIM concerto competition, Harper performed the Arutiunian Trumpet Concerto with the Cleveland Institute of Music (CIM) Orchestra and maestro Jahja Ling in 2016. In 2010, Harper was featured on NPR’s From The Top with his trumpet trio, the only such ensemble to ever perform on the show.

Harper earned his BM in Trumpet Performance and in Music Theory at Northwestern University, his MM at the Cleveland Institute of Music, and a Professional Studies Certificate at the Colburn School. His primary teachers were Charlie Geyer, Barbara Butler, Michael Sachs, Michael Miller, and Jim Wilt. While studying at CIM, Harper also earned certificates in Eurhythmics Pedagogy and Early Music Performance and began playing the baroque trumpet. In high school, he studied with NSO trumpeter Tom Cupples. Michael was born in Annapolis, Maryland, and began his musical studies on the bugle at the age of eight, studying with his father.

Born in Denver, Colorado, Principal Trombonist Craig Mulcahy joined the National Symphony Orchestra in 2006. Prior to this appointment, he held the positions of principal trombone of the Kennedy Center Opera House Orchestra for seven years, second trombone with the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra, and principal trombone of the Tulsa Philharmonic. He has also performed with the San Francisco Symphony, Los Angeles Philharmonic, and Colorado Symphony.

A graduate of the Juilliard School and University of Northern Colorado, Mr. Mulcahy became the first winner of the prestigious Zellmer-Minnesota Orchestra Trombone Competition. As an active clinician and soloist, he has performed solos, recitals, and given master classes throughout the U.S. and abroad, most recently at the Chinese International Trombone Workshop in Beijing, where he was the featured artist. Mr. Mulcahy can be heard on several recordings, including the recent CD released by the NSO commemorating the 50th anniversary of President John F. Kennedy inauguration, which was recorded live in the Kennedy Center Concert Hall in January 2011. Mr. Mulcahy currently serves on the faculty of the University of Maryland and Catholic University of America. 

Seth Cook was appointed Principal Tuba and Cimbasso of the Kennedy Center Opera House Orchestra and Washington National Opera Orchestra in 2019.  Previously, Cook had been Acting Principal Tuba and Cimbasso with the KCOHO/WNOO since February 2015 and was able to perform in the company’s first critically acclaimed Ring Cycle in 2016. Mr. Cook also performed with the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra for their 2017–2018 season, joining them on their international tour to Great Britain and Ireland, which included an appearance at The Proms in London. Along with these orchestras, Seth has also performed with the National Symphony Orchestra, the St. Louis Symphony, and the Mariinsky Orchestra. In 2009, he also played in the Kennedy Center revival of Ragtime, which ran in both Washington D.C., and returned to Broadway. He has also had the privilege of working under conductors such as Valery Gergiev, Fabio Luisi, Christoph Eschenbach, Leonard Slatkin, Philippe Auguin, Marin Alsop, Marco Amiliato, and Manfred Honeck, among others.

Seth received his Bachelor of Music magna cum laude in Performance and Musicology from Northwestern University in 2004 and his Master of Music in Orchestral Performance from McGill University in 2006. He also won fellowships at the Aspen Music Festival, the Pacific Music Festival and in the Youth Orchestra of the Americas. His principal teachers include Dennis Miller, Rex Martin, Warren Deck, John Manning, and Jerry Shaw.

Originally from Middleborough, Massachusetts, Seth currently lives in Northern Virginia, along with his wife, Sophia, who is a collaborative pianist.