Michael Sachs

Michael Sachs joined The Cleveland Orchestra as Principal Trumpet in 1988. Praised by critics for demonstrating “how brass playing can be at once heroic and lyrical” (The Plain Dealer), he is recognized internationally as a leading soloist, recitalist, chamber musician, teacher, author, and clinician. Celebrating his 38th season with the Orchestra, he is the longest-serving Principal Trumpet in the history of The Cleveland Orchestra.

Since joining The Cleveland Orchestra, Sachs has been a featured soloist on numerous occasions. Highlights include the world premiere of John Williams’s Concerto for Trumpet (written for and dedicated to Sachs), Michael Hersch’s Night Pieces, and Matthias Pintscher’s Chute d’Étoiles. Sachs was the featured soloist in the US and New York premieres of Henze’s Requiem, and most recently, he performed the world premiere of Wynton Marsalis’s Concerto for Trumpet (written for and dedicated to Sachs) with Music Director Franz Welser-Möst conducting. Additional solo work has included appearances with the Houston Symphony, Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra, “The President’s Own” United States Marine Band, the Auckland Philharmonia, and the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center. His orchestral discography includes over 200 recordings with The Cleveland Orchestra and a critically acclaimed recital disc with organist Todd Wilson, Live from Severance Hall, released in 2005. His world premiere performance and recording of Aaron Jay Kernis’s Elegy for those we lost for trumpet and harp (with his wife, harpist Yolanda Kondonassis) was first seen on The Cleveland Orchestra’s Adella streaming platform and later released as a single on the Azica label in 2021.

Since 2015, Sachs has served as music director of the Strings Music Festival in Steamboat Springs, Colorado. In addition to conducting the chamber orchestra, his featured performances are a staple of the festival’s annual programming. As a lead artistic administrator and performer for the National Brass Ensemble (NBE), Sachs spearheaded the NBE’s 2014 Gabrieli recording project and subsequent 2015 concert in Chicago’s Orchestra Hall, as well as the 2022 NBE academy, recording, and concert at San Francisco’s Davies Hall, which included a 75-minute Wagner Ring compilation and several world premieres. NBE’s latest recording, entitled Deified, was released on the Pentatone label in 2023.

In fall 2024, Sachs joined the trumpet faculty at the Curtis Institute of Music. From 1988 until 2023, he served as chair of the brass division and head of the trumpet department at the Cleveland Institute of Music. From 2018 to 2022, Sachs was also a lecturer of trumpet at Northwestern University’s Bienen School of Music. In addition to serving on the faculty of leading summer festivals — including the Aspen Music Festival and School, Blekinge International Brass Academy, Domaine Forget, Eastern Music Festival, Grand Teton Music Festival, National Brass Symposium, National Orchestral Institute, Summer Brass Institute, and Summit Brass — Sachs regularly presents masterclasses and workshops at conservatories and major universities throughout the United States, Europe, and Asia as a clinician for Conn Selmer (makers of Bach trumpets). At the invitation of Georg Solti, he served as principal trumpet & instructor in the Solti Orchestral Project at Carnegie Hall. In 2023, Sachs received the International Trumpet Guild’s highest award, the ITG Honorary Award, given annually to individuals who have made extraordinary contributions to the art of trumpet playing through performance, teaching, publishing, research, and/or composition.

Sachs is the author of Daily Fundamentals for the Trumpet and Mahler Symphonic Works: Complete Trumpet Parts (Volumes I–III), all published by the International Music Company. His most recent projects include a new edition of The Orchestral Trumpet and Practice Sequences for The Orchestral Trumpet, both published by Theodore Presser. His newly updated versions of Ernst Sachse’s 100 Transposition Etudes for Trumpet and Wilhelm Wurm’s 120 Etudes for Trumpet are published by Carl Fischer Music. Additionally, Sachs has co-authored 14 Duets for Trumpet and Trombone with Joseph Alessi and has contributed forewords to Rafael Méndez’s Prelude to Brass Playing and The Herbert L. Clarke Collection. From 2008 to 2014, he served as editor of the column “Inside the Orchestra Section” for the International Trumpet Guild Journal. Committed to the evolution of quality equipment, Sachs was extensively involved in the acoustic design and play-testing of the Artisan line of Bach Stradivarius trumpets and the new 190 Series Bach Stradivarius B-flat and C trumpets, as well as the creation of the 25M leadpipe.

Prior to joining The Cleveland Orchestra, Sachs was a member of the Houston Symphony, where he also performed with Houston Grand Opera and served on the faculty of Rice University’s Shepherd School of Music. He has performed with many ensembles in New York City, including the New York Philharmonic, Orchestra of St. Luke’s, New York Chamber Symphony, New York Choral Society, Boys Choir of Harlem, and Speculum Musicae. Sachs’s performances have been heard on CBS This Morning, the Kennedy Center Honors, and the Heroes of Conscience concert for PBS. As a baseball fan, some of his fondest memories are of performing the National Anthem at Cleveland Guardians opening days and playoff games.

Originally from Santa Monica, California, Sachs attended UCLA, where he received a Bachelor of Arts degree in history before continuing studies at The Juilliard School. His former teachers include Ziggy Elman, Mark Gould, Anthony Plog, and James Stamp.

For more information, please visit michaelsachs.com.