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About Mr. Schommer
Adam Schommer is a freelance French horn player and educator in the New York Metropolitan area who maintains an active Horn studio of students both privately and at the Music Conservatory of Westchester. He is the director of the Westchester Youth Horn Choir at MCW, and he serves as professor of Horn at Lehman College.
Mr. Schommer received a Bachelor of Music degree from the Cleveland Institute of Music where he studied with Rick Solis of the Cleveland Orchestra, and he earned a Masters in French horn performance from the University of Cincinnati where he studied with Randy Gardner, formerly of the Philadelphia Orchestra. Schommer also completed an artist diploma at SUNY Purchase studying jazz French horn with John Clark and Ann Ellsworth.
I have had the privilege of working with a multitude of artists and ensembles such as Ray Chew, Benji Kaplan, Gerard Schwartz, Lanfranco Marcelletti, John Clark, Sting, David Amram, Miguel Harth-Bedoya, Zoe Zeniodi, The Allentown Symphony, Harrisburg Symphony, Albany Symphony, The Princeton Festival, John Luther Adams, and has performed in almost all of the contiguous United States.
Mr. Schommer is deeply honored to have given the premiere performance of Dr. Adolphus Hailstork's Horn Concerto in May, 2026 at the DiMenna Center for Classical Music in Manhattan, and has been a soloist with the Cayuga Chamber Orchestra and multiple times with the Chelsea Symphony. In grad school, he was concerto competition winner at the Lucca Opera Theater’s in Italy, 2002.
Teaching Philosophy
I always begin students with the physicality of horn playing. Proper mouthpiece placement, posture and breathing techniques are explored in depth. When we eliminate unnecessary bodily tension, all aspects of playing an instrument become easier.
I build good playing habits in my students from the ground up - I have a multitude of small exercises to refine every aspect playing, and a portion of each lesson will include this instruction, away from solos and etudes. The way you practice lip slurs, E.G., can be explored and then applied to repertoire. This provides a more effective approach to performance.
When teaching repertoire, I use visualization techniques to connect a student to their creative mind in conjunction with the fundamentals of Horn playing. Every small detail is worth attending to in order to create the highest possible level of performances.
"Practice does not make perfect.
Only perfect practice makes perfect."
-Randy Gardner
My best teachers all taught me how to practice and teach beyond simple running through repertoire and commenting which many teachers rely on. The most important lesson to learn as a young musician is how to practice efficiently and effectively.