Darren McHenry

Darren McHenry, a native of Atlanta, joined the Dallas Symphony Orchestra in 1995 on bass trombone. As a young musician, McHenry attended the Brevard Music Center in North Carolina and the National Orchestral Institute at the University of Maryland for several summers. He received his Bachelor of Music in trombone performance from Southern Methodist University where he studied with John Kitzman. In his senior year at SMU, he won the Meadows Symphony Orchestra Concerto Competition. He earned his Master of Music from The Juilliard School, where he studied with Don Harwood.

McHenry toured with the American/Soviet Youth Orchestra in 1990 and with the New York Philharmonic on their 150th Anniversary Tour in 1993. Following his time in New York City, he performed with the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra. In 1994, McHenry was the winner of the I.T.A. Concerto Competition (Yaxley division) and the winner of the I.T.A. Lewis Van Haney Philharmonic Prize, Bass Trombone Competition. Beginning in 2001, he began performing in the Sun Valley Summer Music Festival in Idaho. In 2017, he began playing in the Arizona Musicfest in Scottsdale, in the annual winter Orchestra Festival. McHenry has also served as adjunct professor of trombone at the University of Texas in Arlington, and at the University of North Texas. In 2019, he joined the faculty at Southern Methodist University as adjunct professor of bass trombone. McHenry is married to Jenny, who teaches middle school orchestra in Flower Mound where their two sons, Bryce and Grant, currently attend school and enjoy performing as cellists.