Neil is co-principal trumpet of the New York City Ballet Orchestra, principal trumpet of Lincoln Center's Mostly Mozart Festival and of the New York Pops.
He made his solo debut at the Kennedy Center in 1991 and has been a soloist on “Live from Lincoln Center” performing the Stölzel Trumpet Concerto and “Let the Bright Seraphim” with Renée Fleming. He has performed the Bach Second Brandenburg Concerto over one hundred times, premiered Ellen Zwilich’s Concerto for Trumpet and gave a recital of the music of Karlheinz Stockhausen.
Neil has recorded with the New York Trumpet Ensemble, Canadian Brass, New York Chamber Symphony, Mostly Mozart Festival Orchestra, music for TV, radio commercials and for over 30 major motion pictures. He recorded sixteen PBS TV shows with the All Star Orchestra, made up of top musicians from major orchestras across the North America. As a soloist, he recorded Aaron Copland’s “Quiet City” with the New York Chamber Symphony, conducted by Gerard Schwarz and has been featured on several NY Pops recordings.
In addition to being an accomplished trumpeter, Neil is a skilled arranger and co-owner of Gemini Music Productions, the largest independent employer of musicians in New York City.
Neil was born in Hamilton, Ontario and received his Bachelor and Masters of Music degrees from the Juilliard School.
Orchestras
All-Star Orchestra – 2012-Present
New York City Ballet Orchestra – 1999-Present Co-Principal
Mostly Mozart Festival –1984-Present Principal
New York Pops – 1983-Present Principal
NY Chamber Symphony –1982-2002 Principal
American Composers Orchestra –1985- 2011
Canadian Opera Company – 1989-91 Principal
Music Today Ensemble – 1982-93 Principal, 1987-93 Co-Director
Little Orchestra Society – 1988-89 Principal
NY Choral Society – 1983-93 Principal
Paul Taylor Dance Company – 1987-1993 Principal
Martha Graham Dance Company –1982-90 Principal
Manhattan Philharmonic –1986- 1992 Principal
Opera Orchestra of New York –1988-1989 – Principal
Brooklyn Philharmonic –1981-99
Extra trumpet with Metropolitan Opera –1980-90
Extra trumpet with NY City Opera –1980-Present
Extra trumpet with American Symphony –1984-Present
Touring with Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra – English Chamber Orchestra
Solo Work
Concerti performances with New York Chamber Symphony, Mostly Mozart Festival, Seattle Symphony, Amarillo Symphony (Texas), Music Today Ensemble, New York Chamber Soloists, New York Chamber Orchestra, Virginia Symphony, Stockhausen recital, Zwilich Trumpet Concerto NY Premiere, Kennedy Center Debut – Leopold Mozart Concerto.
Chamber Music
Performances with Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center
Member of the ‘Chamber Music at the Y’ with Jamie Laredo
Member of the NY Trumpet Ensemble;1979-1984
Member of St. Luke’s Chamber Ensemble;1983
Performances with Canadian Brass
Brass quintet concerts in NYC Schools with Lincoln Center Institute
Broadway Shows
Into the Woods, Teddy & Alice, Les Miserables, Phantom of the Opera, On Your Toes, Nine, The Rink, South Pacific, Brigadoon, Sally, Secret Garden, Blood Brothers, Cyrano, Beauty and the Beast, A Catered Affair
Movies & TV
Age of Innocence, Aladdin, Armegeddon, Beauty and the Beast, Billy Bathgate, Bringing Out the Dead, Chip and Dale Rescue Rangers (all episodes), Cradle Will Rock, Doc Hollywood, Felicity: An American Girl Adventure, Fire with Fire, Hercules, In and Out, Into the Woods – PBS Broadway Original Production, It Takes Two, Live from Lincoln Center – Stoelzel Trumpet Concerto, Live from Lincoln Center – Let the Bright Serafim – Renee Fleming, Marvin’s Room, Miller’s Crossing, Mixed Nuts, Mulan, Pocahontas, Powaqqatsi, Queen, The Reaping, Roving Mars, She-Devil, This Boy’s Life, Tune in Tomorrow
Commercial Work
Peter Frampton – Lead Trumpet & Keyboards
Louis Bellson Big Band – European Tour Split Lead
New American Orchestra – Jack Elliot
Tom Pierson Big Band
Recordings
“The Sound of Trumpets” – Gerard Schwarz & the NY Trumpet Ensemble
“The Art of the Trumpet” – NY Trumpet Ensemble
“Venetian Brass Music” – NY Trumpet Ensemble
Concerto for Brass Quintet & Orchestra-Lukas Foss
“Live at Carnegie Hall” – Skitch Henderson & the NY Pops
Let the Bright Seraphim –Arlene Auger & Mostly Mozart Festival Orchestra
“London Scene” – Louis Bellson Big Band
“Shanghai” – Shanghai
Bach’s Tops – Philharmonia Virtuosi
“Stratas sings Weill” – Teresa Stratas & The Y Chamber Symphony
The Music of Aaron Copland (includes Quiet City) – NY Chamber
Symphony/Gerard Schwarz
Arrangement of Passacaglia & Fugue in c minor by Canadian Brass
Christmas in the Country – Skitch Henderson & the NY Pops
From Berlin to Bernstein – Skitch Henderson & the NY Pops
The Music of George Perle – The Music Today Ensemble * Grammy nominated
Magical Melodies from Great Musicals – The New York Pops
Stephen Albert “Flower of the Mountain – The New York Chamber Symphony
Richard Strauss – Le Bourgeois Gentilhomme – The New York Chamber Symphony
David Diamond – Concerto for Small Orchestra – The New York Chamber Symphony
Our Living Composers – NY Philomusica (Ezra Laderman)
The Secret Garden – Original Broadway Cast Album
Peter Schikele – Gerald McBoing Boing
Canadian Brass – From Monteverdi to Mozart
The Who’s Tommy – Cast Album
Beauty and the Beast – Original Broadway Cast Album
Rob Mathes – Heart of Hearts
Roger Session Symphony #6 – American Composers Orchestra
Aaron J. Kernis – Symphony in Waves – The New York Chamber Symphony
Canadian Brass – Swingtime
Sondheim – With So Little to Be Sure Of
Fairy Tale – Irwin Bazelon
Schubert Symphonies 3, 4 & 9 – the New York Chamber Symphony
George Gershwin – EOS Ensemble * Rosetta Award with solo mention for Concerto in F
Pocahontas
Jane Eyre – Original Cast Recording
Gavin Bryars/Tom Waits – Jesus’ Blood Never Failed Me
Maureen McGovern with the New York Pops
The Epytian Helen - American Symphony