His wide-ranging activities as a soloist and chamber musician paired with his passion for composing and arranging are manifested in his versatile performances and unique repertoire.

As a concerto soloist, Brandon appears in 2015-16 with the South Bend Symphony and Modesto Symphony, and is also featured with the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center for its annual performances of Bach’s complete Brandenburg Concertos.

At the age of twenty, Brandon became the youngest member ever to join the iconic Canadian Brass, a position he held for seven years. While with the group, he played in distinguished venues around the world, performed on television, recorded ten albums, and received three Juno Award nominations.

Brandon has appeared as a concerto soloist with the National Symphony Orchestra, Los Angeles Philharmonic, and the Indianapolis, Jacksonville, and Edmonton Symphony Orchestras. He has played with leading ensembles including the New York Philharmonic, International Contemporary Ensemble, the Knights, the Royal Scottish National Orchestra, the Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen, and the Mahler Chamber Orchestra. Other solo performances include the Kennedy Center, Walt Disney Hall, and Carnegie Hall, where he most recently appeared in a performance of Penny Lane alongside Sting and James Taylor.

Brandon is the winner of the 2006 International Trumpet Guild solo competition and a recipient of the Morton Gould ASCAP Young Composer Award. He has recorded three solo albums; his latest release is Fantasies and Fairy Tales which features his own virtuosic arrangements of classical masterworks for trumpet and piano.

A graduate of The Juilliard School and an alumnus of Carnegie Hall’s Ensemble ACJW, Brandon began playing piano at the age of 5 under the tutelage of his father, Rich Ridenour, with whom he still performs frequently in recital and with Pops Orchestras. Brandon is also a part of chamber groups Decoda, Founders, and USEFULchamber.