Brian French, currently principal trombonist of the Winston-Salem Symphony Orchestra, made his Wachovia Masterworks Series solo debut in February 2002, joining the orchestra for three performances of the George Walker Trombone Concerto. Brian has held principal positions in the Arkansas Symphony Orchestra and the Civic Orchestra of Chicago, and has performed with the North Carolina Symphony and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. He is a native of Greensboro, North Carolina, and received both his Bachelor and Master of Music degrees from Northwestern University, counting Frank Crisafulli, Jay Friedman, and Arthur Linsner among his primary teachers. While in Chicago, he became active as a recitalist and chamber musician, and made appearances with the Millar Brass Ensemble, London Brass, and the Storioni Ensemble. His most recent guest soloist appearances include performances of works by Stephen Rush, Alice Shields and Anne LeBaron in North Carolina and New York.

Brian has played both principal and bass trombone positions with orchestras of the Eastern Music Festival in Greensboro, and in 1995 gave a critically acclaimed performance of the Grøndahl Concerto with the academy orchestra. Additionally, he has performed as a member of the Encore Brass Quintet in residence at the Bravo! Vail Valley Music Festival, and in 1997 was a member of the Pacific Music Festival Orchestra in Sapporo, Japan. His performances have been broadcast nationally on CBS, ABC, PBS, and CNN Entertainment News, in Japan on NHK television, and over the radio on NPR and WFMT-Chicago. In addition to his classical endeavors, Brian has performed in New York, Chicago, and Los Angeles with jazz greats such as Henry Mancini, James Moody, Marcus Roberts, Rufus Reid and Michael Kocour.

Brian is on the music performance faculty of Davidson College in Davidson, NC. He and his wife, Kara, live in Greensboro with their Shiba Inu, Katie.