Julia Heirich, a native of Berkeley, California, joined the Orchestre de la Suisse Romande as principal Hornist in September 1994.

Upon completing her Bachelor's degree with Distinction at the New England Conservatory in the class of Charles Kavalovski, Julia Heirich left the USA for Germany, continuing her studies with Professor Michael Höltzel in Detmold and Professor Hermann Baumann in Essen obtaining a soloist diploma. She was appointed principal horn of the Limburg Symphony Orchestra in Maastricht and then of the Staatsoper in Hamburg.

In 1992 she won first prize in the Dutch Horn Competition in Utrecht and was a laureate of the International Music Competition in Toulon in 1993. Upon hearing her solo performances, she was encouraged to audition for the OSR by members of its horn section.

Julia Heirich has performed as a soloist in Germany, the Netherlands and in Switzerland, and has been invited to play as a guest with numerous international ensembles, notably the Norddeutsche Rundfunk Hamburg, the Phildelphia Orchestra, the Tonhalleorchester Zürich, the Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie, the Baslersinfonieorchester,and the Orchestre de Chambre de Lausanne.     

She plays chamber music in various formations in France, Germany, Japan and Switzerland and enjoys exploring modern repertoire for the Alphorn.

Sharing her experience with the next generation is another one of her passions: she is a lecturer of orchestra repertoire for horn at the Haute Ecole de Musique de Genève and tutor with the OSR Diploma of Advanced Studies program since its inception.