Ken MacDonald, a native of Vancouver, BC, joined the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra as Associate Principal Horn in 2001. Since 1997 he has also been Principal Horn of the Hamilton Philharmonic. Along with positions with Symphony Nova Scotia and the Vancouver Opera, he has also performed regularly with the Vancouver Symphony, the Canadian Opera Company, and many of the other finest ensembles in the greater Toronto and Vancouver areas. 

Mr. MacDonald received training at the University of British Columbia with Martin Hackleman, where he won First Prize in the VSO Competition. He has studied with Philip Myers in New York, and other major influences include singer Joel Katz of the RCM, Alan Civil, Frøydis Ree Wekre, and Roland Pandolfi.

Mr. MacDonald’s chamber and solo appearances in festivals across Canada have been featured on CBC Radio and have earned him praise as a “master French hornist” (Globe and Mail) with “an expressive, clean, and beautiful sound” (Hamilton Spectator). He is on the faculty of the University of Manitoba and a member of Metalmporphosis Brass Quintet.  In April of this year, he was appointed to the position of Dad, with the birth of his son Matthew.