Mark Ridenour was appointed the Assistant Principal Trumpet of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra in 1994 and has been Acting Principal since 2016. He began his professional career when he was appointed third trumpet in the Lexington Philharmonic while a senior in college. He was a member of the Dayton Philharmonic, the Memphis
Symphony Orchestra, and the Florida Orchestra.
He has appeared as soloist with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Florida Orchestra and many brass bands around the world. He can be heard playing on the Telarc releases of Prokofiev’s Symphony No. 5 and Lieutenant Kijé and the Grammy Award-winning Mussorgsky’s Pictures at an Exhibition and Night on Bald Mountain with the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra as well as every Chicago Symphony Orchestra recording since 1994.
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Mark earned a Bachelor of Arts degree at Asbury College, a Master of Music degree at the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music. Currently, he is on the faculty of Roosevelt University and Wheaton College.