Skip to page content

James Wilt

trumpet, Nancy and Donald de Brier Chair

About this Artist

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.

Since joining the Los Angeles Philharmonic he has performed regularly on the Chamber Music and Green Umbrella series. In 1999 and 2002, Wilt traveled to Japan to perform as principal trumpet of the Super World Orchestra at the Tokyo Music Festival. 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 received his BM, 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. He recently completed his Master’s degree from Eastman following a 30-year hiatus. Other teachers include Edward Treutel, Gordon Smith, and John Chipurn. He is currently the trumpet professor at the Colburn Conservatory of Music.