Robert Henderson (3)

American French horn player, conductor, and composer, born in May 1948 in Pomona, California, USA. Henderson started performing as a horn player while still in his teens. In high school he became the youngest recipient of the BMI composers grant for three of his works, one of which was recorded by Avant Records. He studied composition with Donal Michalsky and conducting with Daniel Lewis (9) at California State University. He continued to study composition and conducting at University of Southern California with Ingolf Dahl. From 1964 to 1970, Henderson studied French horn under Vincent DeRosa and James Decker. In the late 1960s and 1970s Henderson played with various California orchestras, including Westwood Wind Quintet, San Gabriel Valley Symphony, Pasadena Symphony, Glendale Symphony, San Francisco Opera, and American Ballet Theater. He was also one of the busiest freelance French horn players in Hollywood, recording with various motion picture, television and recording studios. His motion picture credits include "The Godfather", "Jaws", "Airport", "The Deep", "New York, New York", and "A Star Is Born". Other credits include recording with conductors Zubin Mehta, Igor Stravinsky, Erich Leinsdorf, and such popular artists as Carpenters, Frank Sinatra, Barbra Streisand, Paul Anka, Percy Faith, Chicago (2), The Beatles, and Julie Andrews. Henderson gained much of his early conducting experience with the Utah Symphony Orchestra. He was appointed assistant conductor in July 1979 and was named associate conductor in March 1980. In 1981 he was named music director of the The Arkansas Symphony Orchestra, a position which he held for 11 years. He had a second stint in Utah as an associate conductor from 1992 to 1997. Since then he has conducted the principal orchestras of Iceland and Chile, and more than 35 orchestras in the United States.