Hornist Dominic Rotella enjoys an active career as a professional musician in central Virginia. He is proud to serve as Principal Horn of the Richmond Symphony, a position he has held since 2018, as well as Principal Horn of the Williamsburg Symphony Orchestra and Charlottesville Opera. Prior to his relocation to the Mid-Atlantic, he worked abroad as Solo Horn of the Orquesta Filarmónica de Santiago at the historic Teatro Municipal in Chile. He has performed with dozens of professional ensembles across North and South America, including the premier symphony orchestras of Chicago, Houston, and Cincinnati, along with stints as Guest Principal Horn with the Detroit, Baltimore, and Virginia Symphony Orchestras and the Orquesta Sinfónica de Guayaquil in Ecuador. Dominic’s past summer engagements include the Sun Valley Music Festival, Artosphere Festival Orchestra, Lake Placid Sinfonietta, Spoleto Festival USA, and since 2013, an annual appearance at the Lakes Area Music Festival in Brainerd, Minnesota.
Initially a trumpet player, Dominic first played the horn at age fourteen under the guidance of John P. Little. He went on to study with professor D. Bruce Heim at the University of Louisville, where he graduated summa cum laude with a Bachelor of Music degree in horn performance. He continued his orchestral training as a member of the Civic Orchestra of Chicago and completed a fellowship at the New World Symphony under the direction of Michael Tilson Thomas. Dominic later attended graduate school at the Shepherd School of Music at Rice University under the tutelage of William VerMeulen.
Dominic was born in Cincinnati, grew up in the small town of Holderness, New Hampshire, then spent twelve years in Louisville and has bounced around ever since. As a result, he finds it increasingly difficult to answer the question, “Where are you from?” Aside from his musical pursuits, Dominic enjoys rock climbing, Yoga, running, cooking, puzzles and games, movies and TV, NBA basketball, birding, long walks with his dog, Mary, and FaceTiming his niece, Margo.