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librarian

D. Wilson Ochoa

Principal Librarian, Boston Symphony Orchestra
Lia and William Poorvu chair, endowed in perpetuity

Principal Librarian, Boston Pops Orchestra

Wilson Ochoa headshot holding music scores

About

San Diego, California native D. Wilson Ochoa came to the Boston Symphony Orchestra from the Nashville Symphony, where he was principal librarian for 12 seasons. He holds a Bachelor of Arts in music from San Diego State University and a Master of Music in horn performance from the University of Memphis. Previously, Ochoa played horn professionally for 13 years; he was a full-time musician in the Memphis, Tulsa, and Charleston (SC) symphonies, as well as playing extra with the Atlanta Symphony. He toured Germany with the American Sinfonietta and played summer music festivals with the National Repertory Orchestra in Colorado, and others in Missouri, California, Oregon, Washington and Michigan. In 2000, Ochoa became the music librarian of the Charleston Symphony before moving on to Nashville in 2002. In his spare time, Ochoa creates orchestral and chamber arrangements and transcriptions. His Ariadne auf Naxos Symphony-Suite, extracted and arranged from the Richard Strauss opera, was premiered by Giancarlo Guerrero and the Nashville Symphony in 2011, and was recorded in 2016. Further performances of his transcriptions include Aaron Copland's Emblems led by Leonard Slatkin; Sergei Prokofiev's March in B-flat; John Barnes Chance’s Elegy; and a live national television performance of Joseph Willcox Jenkins' American Overture on July 4, 2005. Newer published orchestrations include the Duo for Flute and Chamber Orchestra by Aaron Copland; Elegy for a Young American by Ronald Lo Presti; and Paeans and Dances of Heathen Iberia by Carlos Surinach. His original choral work How Long, O Lord has been performed numerous times by choirs across the country, and many of his arrangements for horn quartet, horn octet, woodwind quintet, brass quintet, and brass choir have been performed and recorded. Wilson was assistant CD producer of the Nashville Symphony’s complete recordings of Villa Lobos’ Bachianas Brasileiras, and produced the Grammy-nominated CD of music of Gabriela Lena Frank for the Alias Chamber Ensemble. Ochoa was raised in a home where everyone played an instrument, sang, and participated in music in school, and credits his family for his love of music.

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