Occupying the Arnold Jacobs Principal Tuba Chair, endowed by Christine Querfeld, is Gene Pokorny, who was appointed to the position by Sir Georg Solti in 1988. He began playing full-time with the Orchestra the following year.
A proud native of Southern California, Pokorny studied tuba there with Jeffrey Reynolds, Larry Johansen, Tommy Johnson and Roger Bobo. After attending the University of Redlands and graduating from the University of Southern California, he played in the Israel Philharmonic, the Utah Symphony, the Saint Louis Symphony and the Los Angeles Philharmonic. While in Los Angeles he played in several movie soundtracks including "Jurassic Park" and "The Fugitive." Sir Georg Solti invited him to play the with the Solti Orchestra Project at Carnegie Hall and with his World Orchestra for Peace, which celebrated the fiftieth anniversary of the United Nations. Former Chicago Symphony Orchestra Music Director Daniel Barenboim invited Gene to play in the Deutsche Staatsoper Berlin production of Wagner's Ring cycle in 1997. In September 2000, he participated in a reunion of the World Orchestra for Peace, which played a concert for charity in memory of Sir Georg Solti at the London Proms and for a young musicians' scholarship fund in St. Petersburg and Moscow in May 2003. In June 2000, he premiered John Stevens' Journey, Concerto for Contrabass Tuba and Orchestra with the Chicago Symphony. He has given repeat performances of that piece with the CSO and other orchestras.
When he isn't counting rests in the back row of the stage of Orchestra Hall, Gene may be found playing with the Do-It-Yourself Sousa Band (3rd clarinet section) in addition to giving music appreciation classes to children through the Orchestra's Education Department as well as through premiums he contributes to its Symphonython. He is an "Advocate for Change" member of the Symphony Orchestra Institute, an organization wishing to serve and help bring about positive changes in North American symphony orchestra organizations, and he was a consultant in Mim Harrison's book, Spoken Like a Pro, published by Levenger. He is on the Honorary Board of Directors of the International Women's Brass Conference.
He performs solo recitals internationally and, in addition to his three solo CDs available, he has a recording of orchestral tuba parts played alone for the benefit of young tuba players readying themselves for professional auditions. In the summer of 2006, a play-along CD/workbook on the Hip-Bone Music Publications label was released as a collaborative effort between Gene and the Rolling Stones' trombonist Michael Davis. He wrote an exclusive chapter pertaining to orchestral auditions for the Tuba Source Book published by Indiana University Press. He has also written articles for the Tuba Journal and The Instrumentalist.
In May 2006, he received the Outstanding Alumnus Award from the University of Southern California's Thornton School of Music.
In March 2007, he received an honorary doctorate in music from the University of Redlands.
Gene is a member of the Union Pacific (Railroad) Historical Society and spends time as a "foamer" (watching and chasing trains). He is a card-carrying member of The Three Stooges Fan Club (a victim of "soicumstances!") and is an avid enthusiast of his good friend David "Red" Lehr, the greatest Dixieland sousaphonist in the known universe. Gene, his wife Beth Lodal (a musician who happens to have a real job) and their basset hounds, etc. (non-musicians who happen to have real lives), regularly forage from their refrigerator, which is located in Oak Park, Illinois. |
