Ethan Bensdorf

Ethan Bensdorf joined the New York Philharmonic’s trumpet section in June of 2008, after spending the 2007–08 season as acting Assistant Principal trumpet with the Naples Philharmonic Orchestra in Naples, Florida. He received his bachelor of music degree from Northwestern University in 2007, where he studied with Barbara Butler, Charles Geyer, and Christopher Martin. While a student at Northwestern, Mr. Bensdorf spent two years performing with the Civic Orchestra of Chicago, the training orchestra for the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, and also performed with the New World Symphony and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra’s contemporary ensemble, MusicNOW. In May 2005, Mr. Bensdorf was selected to perform at the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts representing Northwestern University as part of “The Conservatory Project” recital series. 

In September of 2006, Mr. Bensdorf received the Armando Ghitalla International Trumpet Classic Award, which included solo appearances with the United States Coast Guard Band and the Berkshire Symphony Orchestra in Massachusetts. He also spent two summers as a participant in the Pacific Music Festival in Sapporo, Japan; one summer at the National Orchestral Institute in Maryland; and was selected as a Fellow at the Tanglewood Music Center in the summers of 2006 and 2007, where he received the Voisin Trumpet Award. 

Mr. Bensdorf has performed at the Grand Tetons Music Festival, the Santa Fe Chamber Music Festival, and with the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, and performed as Principal Trumpet of the first ever International Pride Orchestra in San Francisco in June of 2023. He can also be heard on various albums and film soundtracks, including the 2021 release of Steven Spielberg’s West Side Story. In addition, Mr. Bensdorf has appeared as soloist with the Naples Philharmonic Orchestra, and with Midwest Young Artists Conservatory Symphony Orchestra at Ravinia. He is also a member of the New York Philharmonic Brass Quintet which enjoys worldwide exposure and an international reputation, performing and coaching all over the world. 

Mr. Bensdorf has served on faculty at Manhattan School of Music since 2014, and has given coachings and masterclasses internationally at some of the most renowned educational institutions, including the National Youth Orchestra of the USA, New World Symphony, Australian National Academy of Music, and Shanghai Orchestra Academy. He had the prestigious honor of performing during President Biden’s inauguration in January 2021 as part of the virtual “Parade Across America” segment, after getting recognition for performing nightly serenades for the frontline workers from his rooftop during the early parts of the Covid lockdowns in New York City.