ABOUT US

OUR STORY

The Atlanta Horn festival celebrates a decade-long tradition of excellence providing exceptional instruction to aspiring hornists. Founded in 2013 by Atlanta-based performer and educator Anna Dodd, the Atlanta Horn Clinic Summer Symposium laid the foundation for today’s event, featuring chamber music, competitions, recitals, and masterclasses. Over the years, many students visited our events in metro Atlanta, at Columbus State University, and eventually at Kennesaw State University.

In 2018, we changed our name to the KSU Summer Horn Festival and expanded the event to include lectures, instrument builders, and vendors. Atlanta hornists Richard Williams and Jason Eklund became the new event hosts.

Richard formally established the Atlanta Horn Festival in 2021 as a masterclass series and chamber music festival. A redesigned format focused on providing exceptional solo and ensemble training. In 2022, hornist Eric Hawkins joined the Resident Faculty as Associate Director of the Atlanta Horn Festival. In 2025, we are pleased to announce the addition of Dilon Bryan to our Resident Faculty. Learn more about our Resident Faculty here.

Since 2013, our Guest Artist Faculty has featured current or former members of the New York Philharmonic, Boston Symphony Orchestra, Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Philadelphia Orchestra, Oslo Philharmonic, Los Angeles Philharmonic, Minnesota Orchestra, and Atlanta Symphony Orchestra. They have served on the faculty of distinguished universities including the Norwegian Academy of Music, Northwestern University, Temple University, New England Conservatory, and the Manhattan School of Music among others. They have represented leading instrument and equipment makers and can even be heard on the soundtracks of video games and major motion pictures. View our Faculty Archive here.

The AHF seeks distinguished performers and educators annually to join our Artist Faculty, continuing our tradition of inspiring and nurturing tomorrow’s musicians.