Bio
Hornist Cort Roberts enjoys a diverse life in music as a performer, educator, entrepreneur and academic. He is a fellow in Carnegie Hall’s Ensemble Connect, class of 2020-23, where he performs chamber music, curates interactive concert experiences, and works as a Teaching Artist in NYC public schools. In a review of a recent performance, Lana Norris with icareifyoulisten writes “Cort Roberts’ plush and regal horn evoked cosmic grandeur and Sir David Attenborough’s narrative presence”. An active freelancer, Cort plays in a variety of ensembles and creative projects around the Tri-state area. He is Principal Horn in Pegasus: The Orchestra, and 2nd Horn with the Chamber Orchestra of New York. He has also performed with the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, Princeton Symphony, Brooklyn Orchestra, Riverside Symphony, APEX Ensemble, Ensemble Signal, New York Chamber Players, the New England Symphonic Ensemble, the Colorado Symphony, La Orquesta Filarmónica de Sonora, and many others. He has been heard in prestigious venues such as Carnegie Hall, Alice Tully Hall, David Geffen Hall, the Royal Conservatory of Music, and Red Rocks Amphitheater in Colorado. In recent summers, he has performed at Skaneateles Festival, Bravo! Vail Music Festival, Rockport Music, Bang on a Can Summer Festival, and Bowdoin International Music Festival.
A dedicated chamber musician, Cort is a member of The Brass Project, a sextet dedicated to commissioning new works for brass that represent diverse 21st-century musical perspectives. Since its founding, the group has premiered more than 40 new pieces. The group has shared this unique repertoire across the country at a variety of music festivals and residencies. The Brass Project is a 2-year recipient of Chamber Music America’s Ensemble Forward Grant. Committed to community engagement, the Brass Project has curated and presented educational programs for students and communities of all ages in New York, Massachusetts, Colorado, and Texas.
As a teacher, Cort is active in many different settings. With Ensemble Connect, he works as a teaching artist at P.S. 200 Benson Elementary School in Brooklyn, and presents interactive performances at several other public schools with his colleagues. He has been a guest faculty artist at the Universidad de Antioquia in Medellín Colombia, where he presented masterclasses, coached student chamber ensembles, and performed in a culminating concert featuring students and faculty. Also in Medellin, he worked with the talented students in the youth orchestra of La Red de Escuelas de Musica.
Cort is currently pursuing his doctoral degree at Stony Brook University, and will finish in 2023. He completed his master’s degree at The Juilliard School in 2019, where he held two community engagement teaching fellowships. Cort completed his undergraduate studies at the University of Colorado Boulder, where he finished minors in Business and Leadership Studies and worked for several years in office administration. Born and raised in Colorado, Cort has a passion for the outdoors, and enjoys going on long hikes, runs, bike rides, and anything outside– in fact, one of his favorite ways to practice his horn is sitting outside somewhere with a beautiful view.
Major Horn