Layan Atieh is a Palestinian/Jordanian/American horn player, and is the Core Horn of Seraph Brass, the world renowned all-women brass quintet. As an active freelancer, Layan has performed with the Cleveland Orchestra, the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, and the Naples Philharmonic, and as a concerto soloist with the Dallas Winds, the University of Texas-Austin Wind Ensemble, the Yale Concert Band, and the Cusco Symphony Orchestra in Peru. Layan will be joining the Wisconsin Brass Quintet and the faculty at the Mead Witter School of Music at the University of Wisconsin-Madison starting in the fall of 2026.

Layan completed her undergraduate music studies at the Peabody Institute under the tutelage of Robert Rearden, as well as a Bachelor’s degree in Political Science from Johns Hopkins University. She earned her Master’s degree at the Cleveland Institute of Music, where she studied with Richard King and Nathaniel Silberschlag, and performed regularly alongside her teachers in The Cleveland Orchestra. Layan then joined the Civic Orchestra of Chicago, where she served as the inaugural Arts Administration Fellow. During her studies, Layan attended chamber music festivals around the world, including the Hidden Valley Festival of Winds in California, Domaine Forget in Canada, and the Stellenbosch International Chamber Music Festival in South Africa, as well as orchestra festivals such as the Music Academy of the West.

Layan is passionate about community engagement and the intersection of politics and music, and is always finding ways to use music as a vehicle for connection across differences. Her work in Seraph Brass allows her to promote and highlight the artistry of marginalized identities, to bring performances and music education to underserved communities around the United States and across the world, and to open dialogue about the role of artists in society. While on tour with Seraph Brass, Layan has taught at esteemed universities such as Yale University, the Frost School of Music at the University of Miami, and the University of Texas-Austin, and has performed as a featured artist at the Chamber Music America Conference in Houston, the Midwest International Band Clinic in Chicago, the International Women’s Brass Conference in Hartford, the Jeju International Wind Ensemble Festival in South Korea, the International Festival of Winds in Peru, and the Pro Musica Classical Chamber Series of San Miguel in Mexico. Layan is an alumna of the Civic orchestra of Chicago, and her fellowship allowed her to connect with the Chicago community on and off the stage. During her fellowship, she helped organize and perform in youth and educational concerts, as well as collaborative concerts with community partners, such as the Chicago Refugee Coalition. She also conceptualized and produced her own program, titled ‘Thread and Chord: A Dialogue Between Fashion and Music’ – an interdisciplinary performance exploring the relationship between artistic expression and cultural identity.

Layan is dedicated to music education, and is looking forward to joining the faculty at the University of Wisconsin–Madison. Layan also serves on faculty at the Brass Institutes of America, the Cleveland Orchestra Youth Orchestra (COYO), and is co-founder of the Seraph Brass Seminar. In both Cleveland and Chicago, Layan has taught in public schools, deepening her commitment to music education and outreach, and regularly teaches in underserved communities while on tour with Seraph Brass.

Outside of music, Layan enjoys a variety of sports, including martial arts, rock climbing, and, most recently, pickleball.