Andrea Carlson was appointed as Principal Horn in 2011, but began playing with the SCSO in 1994, serving the section as Assistant Horn, Fourth Horn and Second Horn before assuming the Principal Position. Andrea is an active musician for the SCSO’s Education Outreach program, performing school educational concerts with the SCSO Brass Quintet and teaching middle and high school private and group lessons throughout the Sioux City community. She is also the tenured Fourth Horn with the South Dakota Symphony Orchestra, and has performed with the Rochester (MN) and Austin (MN) Symphony Orchestras. In addition to teaching a thriving private studio of 30+ horn students in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, Andrea serves as the Faculty Horn Instructor at Dordt University and Northwestern College in Iowa and Augustana University in South Dakota. She also coaches university Brass Quintet and Horn Choir ensembles and has held the position of Mellophone Coach for the Sioux Falls Lincoln Marching Band since 2000. Andrea has studied with Sarah Cyrus (NY based freelance musician) Herb Winslow (St. Paul Chamber Orchestra), Michael Thompson (BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra), and Nathan Pawelek. Andrea grew up on a farm outside of Blair, Nebraska, earned a nursing degree from Augustana College in 1996, and has worked as a Registered Nurse in Sioux Falls, South Dakota since 2005. Married for 28 years with three adult children, Andrea and her husband Kevin love to travel, backpack in remote national and state parks, and serve together as staff volunteers for area marching band programs.
