Kyle Mustain, English horn, began performing with Pink Martini in 2014. As a child raised in the great state of Texas, he was a fearless, intelligent, outspoken and self-determined ringleader who loved all kinds of music … from Slim Whitman to Rachmaninoff. His mother often found him standing on plastic milk cartons, conducting. At 11 he started playing French horn. At 12, he discovered the oboe and the English horn.
Kyle graduated from Interlochen Arts Academy, and went on to earn a Bachelor of Arts degree from Curtis Institute of Music as a student of Richard Woodhams. After receiving a Masters degree from Yale, Kyle moved to Brasil to join the Orquestra Filarmônica de Minas Gerais in Belo Horizonte for two years. He has appeared or held positions with the Los Angeles Philharmonic, Atlanta Symphony, Houston Symphony and Indianapolis Symphony, among others, and he was principal English horn of the Sante Fe Opera for nine seasons.
Mustain was named Principal English Horn of the Oregon Symphony in 2010. When he’s not painting or collecting Bonsai trees or watching British and Australian Parliament assemblies on Youtube, or teaching at Reed College, you might find him producing the next Pink Martini album or looking for exotic mushrooms with fellow members of the Mycological Society.
