Gabrielle Finck is the associate principal horn for the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra. She, her husband Noah Tyler, and their five children, aged 12, 10, 8, 5 and nearly 2, live on Laurens Street. Drawn to purchase their home by the green spaces and parks, and the proximity to her work, Finck says, “We love the neighborhood parks. Our family attends nearly every Arts in the Park concert. You can always see us there!”
She considers Maple Leaf Park a “hidden gem” and her family’s backyard. She even named the trio, that recently performed as part of the BHCA Music at Corpus Christi series, the Maple Leaf Park Trio. “My children are constantly in Maple Leaf Park. We put up a tire swing for them, and my oldest son plants a garden there. We not only enjoy the park, but the children are apprentices to a park steward, Chris Kingsley, and help with its upkeep.”
Finck, 47, grew up in Indiana and South Dakota in a musical family. Her first musical instrument was the piano but, at her mother’s suggestion, she switched to the French horn in fifth grade. She later attended Boston University and majored in music. After positions with several orchestras in the Midwest, she auditioned and was offered a position with Washington’s National Symphony Orchestra. Four years later she joined the BSO, in 2008. “The position with the BSO was my dream job.” She moved to Baltimore and found her first apartment in Bolton Hill, moved to Remington and Mt Vernon, got married, started a family, and settled permanently back in Bolton Hill, in 2020.
Musically, Finck particularly enjoys the late 19th-century composers (Mahler, Richard Strauss, and Wagner) because they “showcase the horn’s maximum potential and provide moments for horn players to shine”.
She continues, “In this little era in the late 19th century, the trend in classical music was to make everything huge and use lots of horns to produce a big, enormous texture. The horn is glorious, and because these composers use so many horns, their pieces are challenging. But I find these pieces incredibly fulfilling and so much fun to play.”
Her favorite composer, however, is Johannes Brahms. “In terms of what is the most expressive, I think Brahms has a corner on the market. It was no coincidence that we played Trio Opus 40 at the Corpus Christi concert. Brahms says it all for me. He’s just my guy.”
Finck says, “I feel most myself when playing music.” But that is not all she does. With her husband Noah’s support, she homeschools their five children. Their schooling focuses on intensive year-round math education and extensive exposure to literature through reading aloud, books on tape, and independent reading. And the family spends lots of time outdoors. When asked how she manages it all, Finck says she balances her BSO career, homeschooling, and family by being “willing to settle for 70% to 80% on each of those things for now.” She adds, “I love our big family and having our kids around all the time, so we make it work.”
