Roger Kaza, principal horn of the Saint Louis Symphony, is a regular guest principal with many leading U.S. orchestras, including the Los Angeles Philharmonic, Chicago Symphony, Dallas Symphony, and the orchestras of Vancouver, Utah and Cincinnati. Kaza teaches at the Chautauqua Music School in upstate New York, where he is principal horn of the Chautauqua Symphony. He has appeared as soloist in recital and concerto settings across North America, and featured as solo artist with the International Horn Society at its annual conferences. Previously a member of the symphonies of Houston, Vancouver and Boston, he was also solo horn of the Boston Pops under John Williams.
 
Kaza’s musical activities are wide ranging. After early training on piano with Lenore Cowling, he studied composition with Tomas Svoboda at Portland State University while continuing his horn studies with Patrick Fay and Christopher Leuba. Kaza received a Bachelor of Music with Honors under Thomas Newell at the New England Conservatory in Boston. He studied conducting with Leonard Slatkin, Gunther Schuller and Murry Sidlin, and directed more than 40 concerts with Houston Symphony musicians, performing in schools, homeless shelters, and retirement homes. His summer activities include Chamber Music Northwest, the Peter Britt Festival, Aspen, Vail, Mainly Mozart, and major European venues.
 
Kaza coaches and conducts the Saint Louis Symphony Youth Orchestra. He has served on the faculties of Rice University, University of Houston, Saint Louis Conservatory, Tanglewood, and held master classes at Juilliard, Curtis, Eastman School, UCLA, Yale, Indiana University and many others. In 2019 he joined the faculty of Youth Music Culture Guangdong, Yo-Yo Ma's festival in Guangzhou, China. His students fill orchestral positions worldwide, as well as chamber ensembles such as the Canadian Brass. Kaza has recorded for Philips, Nonesuch, Telarc, BMG and Crystal Records, and received several Grammy awards with the Saint Louis Symphony. Writer and producer of the farcical CD, Audition: Improbable, he is a regular contributor to the syndicated NPR radio show and podcast, Engines of Our Ingenuity.