Karl Pituch was named Principal Horn of the Detroit Symphony Orchestra in 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 Los Angeles Philharmonic, the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, the Chautauqua Festival Orchestra and the Grand Teton Festival Orchestra. Pituch can be heard on many recordings with the Dallas, San Francisco and Honolulu Symphony Orchestras.
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, Florida and Michigan. He has been a frequent guest artist at numerous horn conferences and has served as a judge in the American Horn Competition. An active chamber musician, Pituch was a member of the Spring Wind Quintet for 11 years 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 earned his bachelor’s degree from the University of Toledo where he studied with Mary Kihslinger. He also studied with Froydis Wekre of the Oslo Philharmonic and Dale Clevenger of the Chicago Symphony. For seven years, he was the horn instructor at the University of Hawaii.