Background
BM, Duquesne University
Hailed for her “virtuosic poise” and as “a dazzling piccolo virtuoso,” Jennifer M Gunn was appointed to the position of Piccolo of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra by Maestro Daniel Barenboim in 2005. Since joining the CSO, she has been active in many areas of the organization including the MusicNow Series, the Civic Orchestra of Chicago, the Dream Out Loud Music Education Advocacy Campaign, the Once Upon a Symphony series, CSO Chamber series, and has accompanied Maestro Muti on multiple occasions to the Chicago Juvenile Centers.
Equally at home on the flute or the piccolo, Jennifer has been featured as a soloist with the orchestra on many occasions. She made her flute solo debut under the direction of Ludovic Morlot on the orchestra’s MusicNow series playing Shirish Korde’s Nesting Cranes in 2007. One year later she made her piccolo debut under the direction of Harry Bicket playing Vivaldi’s C Major Concerto RV443 on the CSO’s subscription series. Jennifer has also been featured as a flutist on Bach’s Brandeneburg Concerti with her CSO colleagues under the direction of both Nicholas Kraemer and Pinchas Zukerman. In March of 2019, Jennifer was featured as piccolo soloist under the direction of Music Director Maestro Muti playing Vivaldi’s C Major Concerto RV444 and also played the CSO premiere of Ken Benshoof’s Concerto in Three Movements for Piccolo and Orchestra.
Jennifer has enjoyed many occasions to join musician colleagues from the Chicago area and around the world. In the Chicagoland area, she has been a guest with the Bach Week, Dempster Pro Musica, Music of the Baroque, and the Civitas Ensemble. Outside of Chicago, Jennifer has enjoyed collaborating with musician friends at music festivals such as the Sunflower Music Festival in Topeka, KS, Buzzards Bay Music Festival in Marion, MA, Arizona Music Festival in Scottsdale, AZ, and the St. Barth’s Music Festival in St. Barthelemy, French West Indies. She can also be heard on recordings of music by composers Mason Bates, Anna Clyne, and Victoria Bond as well CSO orchestra recordings on the CSO Resound Label.
In demand as a clinician, Gunn has taught master classes around the world including a regular summer class at Orford Musique in Canada. She was a guest artist at the 2018 International Piccolo Festival in Grado, Italy. Gunn is a frequent guest at universities around the country teaching flute and piccolo masterclasses including classes at Carnegie Hall, University of Texas Butler School of Music, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, University of Missouri- Kansas City, and Northwestern University. Jennifer has also been involved as an orchestral coach with the Civic Orchestra of Chicago, the National Youth Symphony (NYO), and the New World Symphony.
Jennifer has held previous orchestra positions including Assistant Principal Flute of the Louisville Orchestra, Principal Flute of the Fort Wayne Philharmonic, and Second Flute of the Wheeling Symphony. She holds a Bachelor of Music degree from the Mary Pappert School of Music at Duquesne University (PA), where she studied with Robert Langevin and Rhian Kenny. She had additional studies at the University of Akron (OH) with George Pope and Mary Kay Robinson.
Jennifer is married to Jonathan Gunn, Professor of Clarinet at University of Texas Butler School of Music.