Cally Banham has been a proud member of the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra since 2006, when she was appointed to the Solo English horn position by then-Music Director David Robertson. She has appeared as soloist with the SLSO many times, most recently in February 2023, performing Sir James MacMillan's The World's Ransoming with the composer conducting.
Before joining the SLSO, Banham held many posts, including Solo English horn with the Buffalo Philharmonic, Principal Oboe with the Memphis Symphony, Fellow with the New World Symphony, and Solo English horn with Orquesta Sinfonica del Estado de Mexico, in Toluca, Mexico. She has performed as a guest in the Principal English horn chairs of the New York Philharmonic, New Jersey Symphony, Chicago Symphony, Los Angeles Philharmonic and Cleveland Orchestra.
In 2013, Banham transformed her hobby of dancing Argentine Tango into a musical pursuit. She founded Cortango, a tango/classical/jazz fusion ensemble. Cortango released its debut album, Tandas, in 2015. As the leader of Cortango, and Executive Producer of Tandas, Banham appeared as a guest on the PBS national program Arts America. In 2018, she co-produced her own solo Christmas album, Cor Christmas, which received extensive radio play in North America, and was featured as Album of the Week by KUSC Los Angeles and KDFC San Francisco, and highlighted on Classical MPR and NPR Performance Today.
For her recording projects, she has been awarded Artist Support Grants in 2023 and 2019 from the Regional Arts Commission of St. Louis. She is also a scholar of Tango music, and since 2021 has produced and hosted the radio program "Tango with Cally," which airs weekly on Classic 107.3 St. Louis and WXXI Classical Rochester.
A native of Philadelphia, Banham graduated from Temple University and the Manhattan School of Music. She studied with Louis Rosenblatt and Joseph Robinson. She lives in beautiful Lafayette Square St. Louis with her two cats, Grizabella and JB. She is a minimalist, environmentalist, foodie, and social dancer of tango, salsa, and rueda. Learn more at www.callybanham.com.
