Barbara Hill has been Principal Horn with the Hartford Symphony since 2008, having joined the orchestra in 2006 as Fifth Horn.  In March 2011 Barbara was proud to be featured in the Inaugural Debut Concert of the HSO’s new Music Director, Carolyn Kuan, performing Mozart’s Horn Concerto, K. 495. She has also been a member of the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra (Canada) as both Acting Principal and Second Horn, and has performed with numerous Canadian orchestras, including the Calgary Philharmonic and Orchestra London Canada.  While in Vancouver Barbara was featured in a performance of Mozart’s Sinfonia Concertante for winds, and had a recital of horn music broadcast on CBC Radio for the program WestCoast Performance.  As a freelance artist, Barbara has performed with numerous groups in Houston, Vancouver, New York, and Hartford, and her horn playing has been featured on CBS during broadcasts of The Tour de France.  She has studied with Julie Landsman (former Principal Horn of the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra), Derek Conrod, and Nancy Goodearl, and has also been a member of both The National Youth Orchestra of Canada, and the National Academy of Music in Hamilton, Ontario.

Originally from Guelph, Ontario she obtained her Master of Music degree from The Juilliard School in New York where she studied with Jerome Ashby and was a recipient of the James Chambers Scholarship.  She holds her Bachelor of Music degree from the University of Western Ontario in London, Ontario, and also holds an ARCT in Piano Performance.  Barbara has been teaching horn for nearly 20 years, and has served as Horn Instructor at The Hotchkiss School and Vancouver Academy of Music. She is currently on Faculty at The Hartt School Community Division, and Central Connecticut State University. She and her husband, Jason, have 4 children  – all very active in the Hartt Community Division – and reside in Western Connecticut.