CLASSICS BIOGRAPHIES

MICHAEL THORNTON, principal horn

Michael Thornton joined the Colorado Symphony as Principal Horn during the 1997 season. He was appointed to the faculty at the University of Colorado, Boulder in 1999 and is currently Associate Professor of Horn. He also serves as a Faculty Artist at the Colorado College Music Festival each June.

Michael Thornton enjoys a distinguished and varied career as an orchestral performer, chamber musician, soloist, and pedagogue. He has performed on five continents, and has presented numerous master classes at numerous prestigious musical institutions in the United States and abroad.

Appointed to the faculty of the University of Colorado at Boulder in 1999, Michael Thornton is currently Associate Professor of Horn. He also serves as a Faculty Artist at the Colorado College Music Festival each June. Mr. Thornton holds certification in Mental Toughness Training from the Human Performance Institute in Orlando, Florida, and implements this training in his teaching. His students hold positions in orchestras throughout the United States and abroad, and have won numerous awards and competitions. Professor Thornton has twice received the Marinus Smith Award, which is bestowed upon teachers at CU Boulder who have made significant contributions to their students’ development.

KOLIO PLACHKOV, 3rd/assistant principal horn

Kolio Plachkov has been with the Colorado Symphony since 2011, as an Associate Principal/Third French Horn. Mr. Plachkov is also a member of the guest horn faculty at the Fairbanks Summer Arts Festival in Alaska, and Rocky Ridge Music Center in Estes Park, Colorado.

After receiving his Bachelor's Degree in Music from The Juilliard School, Mr. Plachkov obtained the principal horn position with the Austin Symphony Orchestra, meanwhile pursuing a full time Masters of Music degree at Rice University.

His solo and chamber music performances have been broadcasted on NPR and CPR. He has been featured with Idyllwild Arts Orchestra, The Broadway Bach Ensemble, Colorado Chambers Players, Englewood Arts Concert Series, and the Estes Park Music Festival.

Carolyn Kunicki

Carolyn Kunicki became a member of the Colorado Symphony horn section at twenty-one, through a national audition. She has a passion for educational outreach and plays and narrates stories throughout the Denver Public School system.

Carolyn Kunicki is a native of Pennsylvania. She showed an interested in music at an early age playing the family piano and her father’s old boy scout bugle, which often led to her and the bugle being sent outside. At