Brian Mangrum grew up in Montreal, and his career as a violinist ended abruptly when he started taking horn lessons from Denys Derome in the sixth grade. He went on to study with John Milner at the Montreal Conservatory, with John Zirbel at Marianopolis College and at the Aspen Music Festival, later earning his bachelor's degree from Rice University, in Houston, TX.
After graduating, Brian moved to Ohio to serve as Principal Horn with the Columbus Symphony for five seasons, before joining the Houston Symphony as Third Horn in 2023. In addition to his positions in Columbus and Houston, Brian has performed with orchestras across North America, including as guest principal horn with the San Francisco Symphony, the Detroit Symphony, the National Arts Center Orchestra of Canada and the Cleveland Orchestra. In his downtime, Brian loves hiking, cooking and string bone wrestling with his dog, Hildy.