Biography

Audrey Flores is a freelancing horn player in New York City.  She attended the Juilliard School and the Mannes College of Music, and regularly plays in Broadway productions and with orchestras in the tri-state area.  She plays a 2017 Patterson Triple Horn with a medium-wide hand-hammered bell.

Audrey spends most of her time performing as a Broadway freelancer. She began playing as a substitute on Disney’s The Lion King in 2012, where she quickly was designated as an approved player for the Horn I position. In 2015, she was designated to perform the solo book at Disney’s Aladdin, and went on to become designated for both Horn I and II at Frozen in 2016. She was also designated for both Horn I and II at King Kong in 2017. She has been a chairholder at Paper Mill Playhouse in Millburn, NJ; Westport Playhouse in Westport, CT; at Plaza Productions in Elmont, NY; and at the Delaware Theatre Company in Wilmington, DE. She has also worked for the Roundabout Theatre Company. She can be heard on album recordings for She Has Risen, an all-female concept album of Jesus Christ Superstar, and on Lempicka - A New Musical that is currently in its pre-Broadway run.

Audrey is appearing as Principal Horn of the Princeton Symphony at different times during the 2022-2023 season. She served as Acting Principal Horn of the Columbus Symphony Orchestra in Ohio for the 2017-2018 season. Formerly Principal Horn of both the Allentown Symphony and Symphony in C in Camden, NJ,  Audrey has also played with the New World Symphony, the Princeton Symphony, the Miami Symphony Orchestra, the New Jersey Festival Orchestra, the Distinguished Concerts International Orchestra of New York, the Jerusalem Symphony, the American Ballet Theatre, the New York Philharmonic, the Mariinsky Orchestra, and the Orpheus Chamber Ensemble.  She was a musician in the Radio City Christmas Spectacular Orchestra in 2019, 2018, 2012 and 2011, and in the New York Spectacular in the summer of 2016.  She is also a proud member of Russ Anixter’s Hippie Big Band, and appears with them in various venues in NYC.

Audrey released her first solo album in June 2017. It includes sonatas and solo pieces by Gliere, Madsen, Krol, and Ketting, and also features the premiere recording of Barbara York’s Sonata for Horn. It was acclaimed by several brass publications, and is available for purchase and streaming on iTunes, Apple Music, Amazon, Spotify, YouTube, CD Baby, and many other platforms worldwide.

A frequent soloist and chamber musician, she has performed with the Jupiter Chamber Players, the OMNI Ensemble, and was featured as a soloist with Symphony in C for a performance of the Britten Serenade for Tenor, Horn, and Strings.  Most recently, she has performed as a soloist with the Broadway Bach Ensemble, performing Strauss's First Horn Concerto in 2015 and Schumann's Konzertstuck for Four Horns in 2017.  She has also performed at the Sunriver Music Festival in Sunriver, OR, the Manchester Music Festival in Manchester, VT, the Vermont Mozart Festival in Burlington, VT, the National Repertory Orchestra, and as a part of the Bravo! Vail Summer Music Festival.

Audrey also enjoys a full teaching schedule in addition to pursuing a varied career.  Audrey is the newest member of the Horn Faculty team at the Juilliard MAP Program. She is a Teaching Artist for Midori and Friends, an organization in New York City that works in tandem with the Department of Education to supplement and provide music instruction for public school students.  She taught beginning and intermediate brass at the Edward Said National Conservatory of Music in Palestine in 2006, and coached chamber music for the Juilliard Pre-College Program in 2005.  She specializes in teaching beginning brass students.

Audrey is also the staff music arranger for the Patriot Brass Ensemble, a 501(c)3 that performs concerts in long-term care facilities for veterans of the United States.  Her arrangements have been featured on NBC’s Late Night with James Corden, NBC's The Voice, CBS's Late Show with Stephen Colbert, Entertainment Tonight, Inside Edition, Paramount Pictures events, New York Fashion Week events, various Improv Everywhere productions, and on several Patriot Brass Ensemble programs and corporate events across the country.  She also performs as a brass musician with PBE as a member of the large brass ensemble, the brass quintet, and the horn quartet.  She is also a member of the newly formed Patriot Concert Brass, and serves as Secretary of the Patriot Brass Ensemble Board of Trustees.

In addition to her busy performing career, Audrey is training to become a Certified Music Practitioner through the Music for Healing and Transition Program. She prioritizes playing for people that benefit from a healing environment created by therapeutic music, and for people that would otherwise not be able to hear the sound of the horn. She is also committed to creating a more diverse and equitable classical music world, and works on several diversity committees in an effort to advocate for her fellow musicians of color.

When she isn't working, Audrey enjoys cooking, swimming, traveling, and being home with her family.  She is married to Steven Behnke, a horn player whom she met in New York Youth Symphony.  They have a tech-minded son and a musical daughter.  They also have a perfect rescue pug named Rocky!

Audrey Flores, Horn review, February 2018, The Horn Call

Audrey Flores, Horn review, October 12, 2017, Last Row Music - Audio Review: Audrey Flores, Horn

Audrey Flores, Horn review, August 14, 2017, James Boldin’s Horn World - BRIEF REVIEW: AUDREY FLORES, SOLO HORN RECORDING

Allentown Symphony Orchestra Review, April 6, 2014 - REVIEW: ASO delivers knockout performances in heavy-hitting season finale

Symphony in C, January 23, 2014 - Sterling Musicianship at Symphony in C Concert