Mollie Pate, Hornist

Mollie Pate has served as the Principal Hornist of the Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra since 1996 and has been a faculty member of Loyola University since 2007. She enjoys teaching people of all ages, and will be a guest clinician at the Boston University Tanglewood Institute in the summer of 2024. She is also a founding member of her french horn quartet, Mollie Pate and the LPO Horn Sound. She received her Bachelor’s degree in Music Performance in 1993 from Lamar University (Beaumont, TX) and her Master’s and Graduate Diploma degrees in 1995 and 1996 from the New England Conservatory of Music, where she studied with Jay Wadenpfuhl of the Boston Symphony Orchestra.

Ms. Pate’s musical career has taken her all over the country and much of Europe. She has performed with the Houston Ballet, Los Angeles Philharmonic, Houston Grand Opera, St. Paul Chamber Orchestra, Phoenix Symphony, Nashville Symphony, and Pacific Symphony, where she joined them on their European tour to Germany, Austria and Switzerland. She has been the lead studio horn player in Nashville, and has also done some recording in the Los Angeles area. Ms. Pate frequently tours with the Burning River Brass, based out of Cleveland, OH. This group is one of the premier brass ensembles in the country, and has been featured on many concert series, including one at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. She also serves as Principal Hornist with the Mobile Symphony Orchestra.

Ms. Pate held the Principal Horn position with the Pageant of the Masters, Festival of the Arts Orchestra in Laguna Beach, CA for 11 years, and resigned to open her gym, CrossFit Nola, in 2010, where she focuses on community health and fitness. She has competed for 15 years in the sport of CrossFit, most recently qualifying for Wodopolooza and the Masters Fitness Collective. In September 2009, Ms. Pate placed 12th at the Sprint Triathlon World Championships in Australia. Her hobbies include pottery and gardening. She has four cats named Remus, Rabbit, Buttercup and Gus.

Ms. Pate performs at CCCMF 2024 on October 11