John Zirbel

Who is John Zirbel?

John Zirbel is an American-born French horn player and teacher and is the Principal Horn of l'Orchestre Symphonique de Montréal, a position he has held since 1979. A native of Janesville, Wisconsin, and a former member of the Denver Symphony, his teachers included John Iltis, John Barrows, and Douglas Hill. Since 2000 he has been Co-Principal Horn of the Aspen Festival Orchestra, and he has also performed as a guest Principal Horn with the orchestras of Toronto, Milwaukee, St. Louis, Cincinnati, San Francisco, the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra, and the NHK Symphony Orchestra. A noted horn soloist, Mr. Zirbel has performed all of the major horn concertos with l'Orchestre Symphonique de Montréal and The San Francisco Symphony, and was a prize winner at the 1981 Grand Concours international de Cor in Liège. He teaches the French horn at McGill University and the Aspen Music Festival and School.