Karl Pituch

Karl Pituch was named Principal Horn of the Detroit Symphony Orchestra in May, 2000. Before joining the DSO, Pituch was Associate Principal Horn with the Dallas Symphony Orchestra, Principal Horn with the Honolulu Symphony Orchestra, the Jacksonville Symphony, and the Colorado Music Festival Orchestra. He served as a guest Principal Horn for the Boston Symphony Orchestra, the Los Angeles Philharmonic, the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra, the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra, the Chautauqua Festival Orchestra, and the Grand Teton Festival Orchestra.

Pituch can be heard on many recordings with the Detroit, Dallas, San Francisco, and Honolulu Symphony Orchestras, on the DSO’s Live from Orchestra Hall webcasts, and as soloist with the Detroit Symphony Orchestra in the John Williams horn concerto and Kerry Turner horn concerto.

Pituch was the grand prize winner at the 1989 American Solo Horn Competition and has been a finalist at many other solo competitions. As a soloist, Pituch has performed with orchestras in Japan, Hawaii, Colorado, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Ohio, Indiana, Florida, and Michigan. He has been a frequent guest artist at numerous horn conferences and serves as a board member and judge at the International Horn Competition of America. An active chamber musician, Pituch has recorded with The DSO Wind Quintet and the Spring Wind Quintet, toured many times with the American Horn Quartet, and participated in chamber music festivals in Marlboro, Vermont; Crested Butte, Colorado; Kapalua, Maui; Kazusa, Japan; and Freden, Germany (with the American Horn Quartet).

Pituch is currently the horn instructor at Wayne State University. He has taught at the University of Hawaii and has given master classes across the US. He is a co-founder, along with Denise Tryon, of Audition Mode, an annual horn seminar specializing in audition preparation. Pituch earned his degree from the University of Toledo where he studied with Mary Kihslinger. He also studied with Froydis Wekre and Dale Clevenger.