Helen Wargelin

Helen Wargelin joined the Detroit Symphony Orchestra as Second Horn in February 2026. Prior to her current position, she spent four years as Second Horn in the Virginia Symphony Orchestra in Norfolk, VA. She has appeared elsewhere with groups including the Seattle, Kansas City, Oregon, Charlotte, and Richmond Symphonies, the Naples Philharmonic, and the Virginia Arts Festival Chamber Players; on the big screen, she is featured in the 2024 documentary Music by John Williams. She spends her summers with the Bellingham Festival of Music as Fourth Horn. Earlier summer engagements include the Tanglewood Music Center and the Aspen and Brevard Music Festivals. In 2021, she won the Aspen Horn Concerto Competition.

A Concord, MA native, she holds a Master of Music from New England Conservatory and a Bachelor of Music, magna cum laude, in Horn Performance from Northwestern University’s Bienen School of Music, along with a minor in Musicology. While at NEC, she was an Edward Hyde Cox Presidential Scholar. Her principal teachers include Gus Sebring, Gail Williams, and Jonathan Boen.