Joel Ockerman

Biography

Joel Ockerman is the newly appointed Assistant Professor of Horn at Utah State University, having previously served as Adjunct Lecturer in Horn at the University of Texas at Austin. Other teaching engagements have included serving as teaching assistant for the Summer@Eastman Horn Institute, teaching private lessons at the Longhorn Music Camp, leading coachings with the Cayuga Chamber Youth Orchestra, and maintaining an active private studio of students across the greater Austin area.

Active as a performer, Dr. Ockerman has performed with orchestras across the country including the Baltimore Symphony, Albany (NY) Symphony, Symphoria, Canton Symphony, ProMusica Chamber Orchestra, and the Music in the Mountains Festival Orchestra. In addition, he has performed as principal horn with the Rochester Philharmonic, Buffalo Philharmonic, Austin Symphony, Cayuga Chamber Orchestra, Lubbock Symphony, and the Central Texas Philharmonic.

A passionate advocate for new music, Dr. Ockerman has presented research on the horn writing of György Ligeti at the International Horn Symposium and has performed alongside new music ensembles such as Roomful of Teeth, the American Wild Ensemble, and Density512. Paired with this passion for new music, he also has an interest in early music and has performed on natural horn with groups including La Follia Austin Baroque and at the Oregon Bach Festival.

Dr. Ockerman received both his Doctor of Musical Arts and Bachelor of Music degrees from the University of Texas at Austin, studying with Patrick Hughes. He received his Master of Music from the University of Georgia, studying with Dr. Jean-Martin Williams and Richard Deane. He also has had additional private studies on the natural horn and historical performance practice with Anneke Scott.