Julia Pilant — Horn

Julia Pilant has served as the acting third horn of the Utah Symphony | Utah Opera Orchestra since 2021. Prior to this appointment, she was the assistant principal horn of The Metropolitan Opera Orchestra for 14 years, following a decade as principal horn of the Syracuse Symphony Orchestra.

Pilant has performed with many of the world’s most esteemed ensembles, including the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, Orchestra of St. Luke’s, and the New York City Ballet Orchestra, as well as on numerous Broadway productions. Internationally, she has appeared as guest principal horn with the Mito Chamber Orchestra and at Japan’s Saito Kinen and Tokyo Opera Nomori music festivals. A frequent collaborator with The Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, she has also performed at festivals including Strings, Affinis, Santa Fe Chamber Music Festival, Festival Napa Valley, Classical Tahoe, Mainly Mozart, and the La Jolla Music Society’s SummerFest.

Dedicated to teaching, Pilant was a horn instructor at the Bard College Conservatory of Music for 16 years and continues to give lessons and masterclasses at summer festivals and music schools across the country. She earned her bachelor’s degree at the Eastman School of Music, where she studied with Verne Reynolds, and both her master’s and doctoral degrees at The Juilliard School, where she studied with Julie Landsman.