John Zirbel

John Zirbel is an American-born French horn player and teacher. He has been the principal horn of l'Orchestre Symphonique de Montréal since 1979.

Early life and career

Zirbel is a native of Janesville, Wisconsin. He trained under Douglas Hill.

A former member of the Denver Symphony, since 2000 Zirbel has been co-principal horn of the Aspen Festival Orchestra. 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. As a soloist, 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, Belgium. He teaches the French horn at McGill University and the Aspen Music Festival and School.