James Wilt

Trumpet
Associate Principal

JAMES WILT joined the Los Angeles Philharmonic in March 2003 as Associate Principal trumpet. Prior to this, he spent 14 years as the associate principal trumpet of the Houston Symphony. Wilt has also held positions with the New York Philharmonic, the Denver Symphony, the Rochester Philharmonic, and the Dayton Philharmonic.
 
Although primarily an orchestral musician, Wilt has performed a wide range of solo and chamber music, including three solo appearances with the Houston Symphony and appearances on the New York Philharmonic’s chamber music series. Since joining the Los Angeles Philharmonic, he has performed regularly on the Philharmonic’s Chamber Music and Green Umbrella series. He has also appeared with Da Camera and the Greenbriar Consortium and has participated in the Grand Teton and Colorado music festivals. In 1999 and 2002, Wilt traveled to Japan to perform as principal trumpet of the Super World Orchestra at the Tokyo Music Festival as part of an orchestra of musicians selected from around the world. In January of 2007, he was invited to be guest principal trumpet with the Symphonica Toscanini under Lorin Maazel during a United States tour.
 
Wilt graduated magna cum laude from the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music, where he studied with Eugene Blee. His graduate work was done at the Eastman School of Music, where he studied with Charles Geyer. Other teachers include Edward Treutel, Gordon Smith and John Chipurn. He is currently on the faculty of the Colburn Conservatory of Music. Additionally, he has been on the faculty of CSU Long Beach, Rice University’s Shepherd School of Music, and the University of Northern Colorado, and has conducted master classes in Europe and Asia.