Ross Snyder, Horn

I remember getting excited for "Surprise Day" (Wednesday) on the Mickey Mouse Show, and the theme music was certainly exciting. But before that, my mom says I would sing along with Glen Campbell's "Rhinestone Cowboy."

When I entered junior high, which was seventh grade at the time, I chose French horn. I had started trumpet in fourth grade, because my mom and dad both had instruments laying around the house from when they played in their bands. But my band director, a trombone player, switched me to baritone the next year in hopes of moving me to trombone by the time my arms were long enough. I lost interest in the baritone (it was also too heavy to walk to school!), so choosing my own instrument helped keep my interest in music.

In high school, I placed well at All-State. I enjoyed playing in youth and community orchestras, and I also liked listening to music and composing my own. So by senior year, I'd made up my mind to look only at music schools. My applications were actually all for music history and performance - I actually expected to go into academia and not to the performing stage.

I love the personal connection we all share in the hall. Every listener hears a piece differently, every performance is different. If someone coughs or walks down an aisle in heels, our attentions can meander. And I love how a performance can focus 2,000 people together in one collective thought.

That depends on the player! I used to freak about playing a single note all by myself on stage, like the beginning of the last movement of Mahler's 5th. But now, I think I'm most challenged to learn music I've never played, like Jonathan Leshnoff's Starburst in 2010's opening subscription week.

I just moved here from Omaha, so I'm really putting all my efforts into the symphony! In Omaha, I really enjoyed chamber music, where I was a founding director of the Omaha Chamber Music Society.

Car stereo - Coltrane, My Favorite Things. Bedroom #1 - Blossom Dearie, some Verve collection or other. Bedroom #2 - Mary Poppins soundtrack. Living room - Arthur Honegger collection of short pieces.

I love lots of them, but I'll say Olivier Messiaen. I think he composed in his language so perfectly and beautifully, that no one could write like him ever since.

The regular hours! My little girls appreciate that my schedule's pretty similar from day to day. Freelance musicians, and players in smaller orchestras, don't get that luxury.

I was called to play on the Britten recording under Michael Stern on just a day or two notice. Wow! Luckily I'd already played most of the rep, so only the Sinfonia da Requiem was sight-reading for me.