The Horn Signal (Bob Reeves Brass)

The Horn Signal is proudly brought to you by Bob Reeves Brass. Join hosts John Snell and Preston Shepard as they interview horn players around the world.  Today's episode features hornist, Steve Becknell, principal horn of the LA Opera, adjunct professor of horn at USC's Thornton School of Music, and studio musician for thousands of films, television episodes, video games and record albums. You can visit the show notes for this episode here.

About Steve

Steve Becknell has had an extensive and varied career as a horn player. In
1982, he moved to Southern California to study with famed studio player Vince
DeRosa at USC, but began working professionally while still in school. He has played
in orchestras throughout Southern California including the Los Angeles
Philharmonic, the San Diego Symphony, the Pacific Symphony, and was a member of
the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra for 8 years. He is also in demand as a chamber
musician, and has performed with Santa Barbara-based Camerata Pacifica as well as
the Santa Fe Chamber Music Festival and the Mainly Mozart Festival. But the bulk of
Steven’s time was spent recording in the Hollywood studios. To date, he has played
on over 1,000 different motion pictures and numerous television series, as well as
playing on the Tonight Show with Johnny Carson and the Ellen DeGeneres Show.
Steve has played live for the Academy Awards, sat in the pit for Broadway shows,
and has had the honor of recording with such legendary artists as Frank Sinatra,
Barbra Streisand, Barry Manilow and Josh Groban.

Steve has been playing principal horn with the Los Angeles Opera for over 25
years. In 2010 he performed all the offstage and pit solos of Wagner’s complete
Ring cycle, the first time it had ever been produced in Southern California. To date,
he has played over 1,500 performances with the Los Angeles Opera.
Steve is currently on the faculty at the University of Southern California.

The Horn Signal is proudly brought to you by Bob Reeves Brass. Join hosts John Snell and Preston Shepard as they interview horn players around the world.  Today's episode features Greg Roosa, 2nd horn of the Los Angeles Philharmonic.

About Greg:

Gregory Roosa was appointed Second Horn of the Los Angeles Philharmonic by Gustavo Dudamel in September 2012. Prior to that he held the Fourth Horn position in the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra beginning in 2003. His previous positions include Fourth Horn with the Kennedy Center Opera and Ballet Orchestra, and Fourth Horn with the Colorado Symphony in Denver.

A native of Troy, Michigan, Roosa attended the University of Illinois and studied with Ralph Froelich at the University of South Florida. In 1992, he moved to Chicago to study with Dale Clevenger, Principal Horn of the Chicago Symphony. He was a member of the Civic Orchestra of Chicago for three seasons. Active as a freelance musician in the Chicago area for eight years, Roosa played in the Broadway shows Ragtime, Phantom of the Opera, and Miss Saigon. He also played with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, including a European tour and two recordings. Roosa has appeared as soloist and clinician at numerous universities and horn workshops around the world.

Roosa has performed with the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra and Queensland Orchestra in Australia, as well as with the Florida Orchestra and Detroit Symphony in the U.S. He was a member of the Colorado Music Festival Orchestra from 1999 to 2012, where he met his wife, Amy Jo Rhine, the Third Horn of LA Phil. Together they have two young boys, Norton and Sutton.

About Kate:

Kate Caliendo enjoys a diverse musical career of symphonic playing, chamber music, recording, soloing and teaching. She is currently Second Horn of the Jacksonville Symphony and has also held Fourth Horn positions with the Houston Symphony and San Antonio Symphony. She is a frequent guest musician with groups including the Kansas City Symphony, Atlanta Symphony, Charleston Symphony, Houston Grand Opera, North Carolina Symphony, Louisiana Philharmonic and the Coastal Symphony of Georgia. As a recorded artist, she is featured on projects with the Kansas City Symphony, Rice University Horn Studio and the Houston Symphony, including their 2018 Grammy Award winning live concert performance of Wozzeck. During the summers, Kate performs with the Bellingham Festival of Music in Washington state, and has also been a musician at Festival Mozaic in California and the Tanglewood Music Center. An avid solo musician, she performed as guest soloist with the Charleston Symphony, and in 2011 commissioned and premiered “Vanishing Points, Six Aural Paintings for Low Horn and Piano” by Rice Doctorate composer Stephen Bachicha. A native of New Jersey, Kate began her musical studies with her father, who was her band director. She was a student of Michelle Baker at the Manhattan School of Music and received her Bachelors and Masters degrees in French Horn Performance from Rice University as a student of William VerMeulen. Her other notable teachers  include Dale Clevenger, Julie Landsman, Douglas Lundeen, and Jeff Nelsen.

The Horn Signal is proudly brought to you by Bob Reeves Brass. Join hosts John Snell and Preston Shepard as they interview horn players around the world.  Today's episode features hornist, Dylan Skye Hart, studio musician for thousands of films, television episodes, video games and record albums. You can visit the show notes for this episode here. The Bob Reeves/Dylan Skye Hart mouthpiece video can be found here.

About Dylan Skye Hart:

You may not know Dylan Skye Hart by name, but you have heard him play horn. Proud Latino and Los Angeles native, Dylan is a busy freelance musician. Depending on the day, he can be found recording for video games, motion pictures, theme parks, or television shows. 

He has recorded films with many great composers including John Williams, Hans Zimmer, John Powell, Randy Newman, Alexandre Desplat, James Newton Howard, Bruce Broughton, David Newman, and Alan Silvestri. Some movie titles on which Dylan can be heard playing principal horn include: Star Wars IX: The Rise of Skywalker, Jungle Cruise, Onward, It 2, Call of the Wild, Ready Player One, Deadpool 2, Star Wars VIII: The Last Jedi, Violent Night, and The Jungle Book. Dylan has also recorded albums and appeared on television with music legends Lady Gaga, John Legend, Michael Bublé, Sting, Stevie Wonder, Wu-Tang Clan, M83, Gladys Night, Yo-Yo Ma, Neil Young, and The Beatles. His solos can be heard on his namesake Bob Dylan’s albums Shadows in the Night and Fallen Angel. 

Dylan has toured with John Williams’ Star Wars in Concert, Eden Espinosa of Wicked, and The Who, doubling on horn, trumpet, trombone, Wagner tuba, and mellophone. In the orchestral world, Dylan is principal horn of the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra and recently won a one-year position as associate principal horn of the Minnesota Orchestra. He also performs regularly with the Los Angeles Philharmonic, Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra, Pacific Symphony, and San Diego Symphony. Dylan is a member of the Los Angeles Horn Quartet and Modern Brass Quintet.

In addition, Dylan co-produced the 75-minute film documentary entitled 1M1: Hollywood Horns of the Golden Years which recounts the history of the Los Angeles film studios told through the eyes of the legendary horn players of the golden era. In addition, he translated and published a book for musicians called In Tune: Exercises to Improve a Musician's Performance and Quality of Life. Dylan is known for making French horn music videos as seen on his YouTube Channel and specializes in giving masterclasses on a variety of topics ranging from physics and anatomy to motivation and mental health.

As an alumnus of the University of Southern California, he studied with Vincent DeRosa, James Thatcher, and Richard Todd. Dylan currently teaches horn at California State University, Northridge. When not performing, Dylan, a “foodie”, enjoys cooking, playing ice hockey and soccer, golfing, and hanging out with his wife and fellow hornist Annie Bosler.

Dylan is a Conn/Selmer Artist and owns several vintage Conn 8Ds and currently plays on a C-series that his friend and fellow instrument junky Noah Gladstone helped him find. He also developed a signature mouthpiece line with the help of Brett Kendall at Bob Reeves Brass.