David Guerrier [b. 1984] is that most unconventional of solo classical artists, in that he plays the trumpet. Born in southeastern France, he took up the instrument at the age of seven. Over a two-year period that began in 1998, even before his thirteenth birthday, Guerrier scored no fewer than four first-place victories in European horn competitions.
His early musical career centered primarily on performing in various orchestras and smaller ensembles. These included membership in the Mediterranean Youth Orchestra in 1998. Guerrier also toured the following summer with the European Union Youth Orchestra, which had as its conductors such luminaries as Bernard Haitink, Vladimir Ashkenazy, and Sir Colin Davis. As a member of Ensembles Turbulences in September 2001, he received yet another first prize, that time in the Philips Jones International Competition.
Guerrier was principal horn player with the French National Orchestra from 2005–09, where Kurt Masur was music director, before moving to the Luxembourg Philharmonic Orchestra during 2009–10. Today he performs as a member of La Chambre Philharmonique, which is a small ensemble that specializes in performing works from the Classical and Romantic periods while playing “period” instruments. He has also formed his own group—Quatuor David Guerrier—comprising three additional young horn players (Anne Boussard, Guillaume Begni, and Pierre Burnet) who specialize in works for all-horn ensembles (Rossini, Rimsky-Korsakov, Strauss), as well as grander pieces for multiple horns plus orchestra (Mozart, Schumann).
His solo career has brought him to the attention of U.S. audiences, as Guerrier has appeared with top American orchestras to perform several of the important trumpet concertos from the standard classical repertoire. He has recorded a Mozart horn concerto as well as a septet by Camille Saint-Saens. In addition to his performing career, Guerrier is horn professor at CNSM (Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique) in Lyon, France.
Guerrier solos in Variations on “Carnival of Venice” (folk tune), accompanied by Ensembles Turbulences: