JULIA PILANT

A native of Springfield, Julia Pilant began her horn studies at age 9 in the Springfield Public Schools’ summer instrumental music program. She continued studying the horn with her father Dr. Denny Pilant, Mr. Bill Gulley, Mr. Johnny Woody, and Mr. Verle Ormsby, Jr. In addition, her other major music teachers in Springfield were Mrs. Gertrude Bechtold (piano), Mr. Charles Hall and Mrs. Patricia Lockhart (Springfield Youth Symphony), Mr. Robert J. Holden (Parkview High School Band and Orchestra director), and Mrs. Mabel Thompson (voice and Christ Episcopal Church choirs).
Ms. Pilant received her Bachelor of Music degree from the Eastman School of Music as a student of Verne Reynolds, and her Master’s and Doctoral degrees from The Juilliard School where she studied with Julie Landsman.
After playing principal horn with the Syracuse Symphony Orchestra for 10 years, Ms. Pilant recently returned to New York City where she performs frequently with the Metropolitan Opera, Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, New York City Opera, American Symphony, The Orchestra of St. Luke’s, and various Broadway shows that include Wicked, Phantom of the Opera and Young Frankenstein. Ms. Pilant is also principal horn for the Saito Kinen and Tokyo Opera Nomori music festivals in Japan (Seiji Ozawa, music director), and has been a principal horn and participant in the Festivale di Due Mondi (Spoleto, Italy), Bard, OK Mozart and Santa Fe Chamber music festivals. In 1994, she won the American Horn Competition.
Ms. Pilant is thrilled by the opportunity to return ‘home’ to perform Richard Strauss’ First Horn Concerto with the first live orchestra she ever heard, and sincerely thanks the community for continuing to support the cornerstone of Springfield’s vital and vibrant arts scene, the Springfield Symphony.

JANUARY