Michelle Reed Baker

Michelle Reed Baker is a distinguished horn artist and educator currently serving as Department Chair of Classical Brass at the Manhattan School of Music, Assistant Professor at The Juilliard School, and faculty member at Montclair State University and Mannes College of Music. Her illustrious 27-year tenure as Second Horn of the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra (1990-2017) established her as a leading orchestral musician, with prior experience in the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra and as a regular substitute with the New York Philharmonic.

Her academic foundation includes:

• Bachelor of Music from the Moores School of Music at the University of Houston, studying under Julie Landsman, Nancy Goodearl, and Jay Andrus
• Master of Music at The Juilliard School with James Chambers

Baker specializes in advancing classical horn performance through orchestral precision, chamber music collaboration, and contemporary repertoire development. Her commissioning of new works like Dorothy Gates' "Imaginings" for low horn demonstrates her commitment to expanding the instrument's literature. She actively contributes to film soundtracks including "The Good Shepherd," "True Grit," and "Zoolander 2," while maintaining a rigorous teaching philosophy focused on technical mastery and musical expression.

She performs internationally with ensembles such as the Mostly Mozart Orchestra, Montclair Orchestra, and ProMusica, and appears annually at premier festivals including Music of the Hill (Rhode Island), Round Top Music Festival (Texas), Bowdoin International Music Festival, and Verbier Festival (Switzerland).