John Urness has been Principal Trumpet of the State of Mexico Symphony Orchestra (OSEM) in Toluca, Mexico, since 1997. Led by the Mexican conductor Enrique Batiz, the OSEM presents more than 80 concerts each year in the Mexico City area and on tours which have taken the OSEM to China, Germany, Spain, France, Poland, and most recently to the USA for a 49 concert tour with Columbia Artists Management in 2008.
Mr. Urness has been a frequent soloist with the OSEM, presenting concertos by Albinoni, Tartini, Vivaldi, Haydn, Hummel, Tomasi, Arutunian, Krol, and Jolivet. In 2006 he played the Hummel Concerto with the National Symphony of Guatemala in Guatemala City. In 2004, 2005, and 2006 he appeared with the San Luis Potosi Symphony Orchestra in Concertos by Shostakovich and Zatin, and in 2006 he performed the Zatin Concerto with the Guanajuato University Symphony Orchestra.
Mr. Urness served as Principal Trumpet of the Spoleto Festival in Italy in 1996 and was a member of the AIMS Festival Orchestra in Graz, Austria, in 1993 and 1994. In Mexico he performs regularly as Principal Trumpet for Milenium Sinfonietta, Orchestra of the New World, Orchestra of the Americas, Mineria Symphony Orchestra, Mexico Ensemble, La Camerata, and ONIX Ensemble. He has played first trumpet for a variety of Broadway shows presented by OCESA in Mexico City, including "Phantom of the Opera", "Les Miserables", "Beauty and the Beast", and "Sweet Charity". He has performed with both the Royal Philharmonic of London and the Israel Philharmonic on their tours of Mexico, and can be heard on the soundtracks for the Mexican movies "Brijes", "Regresa", and "Serafin".
Mr. Urness received the Master's of Music degree from Rice University in Houston, Texas, in 1996, and the Bachelor's of Arts (Music and Economics) from the University of Wisconsin in 1994. He also studied at Music Academy of the West in Santa Barbara, California, in 1995, where he studied with Adolph Herseth and Mario Guarneri. His teachers include Armando Ghitalla, John Aley, Dennis Najoom, and Jeff Schieble.
