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 Julie Pilant, formerly of the Met, now with Utah Symphony.

About Julie:

Julia Pilant is currently the acting 3rd horn for the Utah Symphony/Utah Opera, and a regular guest with the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra horn section and the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center. Previously, she was the assistant principal horn for the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra for 14 years and a horn instructor for the Bard College Conservatory of Music for 16 years. Prior to holding those positions, she was the principal horn of the Syracuse Symphony Orchestra for 10 years. Ms. Pilant also freelanced for several decades in New York City and performed regularly with Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, Orchestra of St. Luke's, New York City Ballet, and numerous Broadway shows. She has played principal horn for the Saito Kinen/Ozawa and Tokyo Opera Nomori music festivals, the Mito Chamber Orchestra in Japan, and has participated in the Santa Fe Chamber, Affinis (Japan), Sarasota, Festival Napa Valley, Classical Tahoe, Strings, Mainly Mozart, and La Jolla Music Society Summerfest music festivals. In 1994 she won the American Horn Competition. As an equally enthusiastic music educator, she has given masterclasses in schools and festivals across the country, including The Juilliard School, USC, Interlochen Arts Camp, and the Boston University Tanglewood Institute, and is a founding member of the recently formed Coalition of Musicians for Ethical Change. Ms. Pilant received her Bachelor's degree from Eastman School of Music (student of Verne Reynolds), and her Master's and Doctoral degrees from The Juilliard School (student of Julie Landsman).

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 Phil Yao, Hollywood studio hornist.

About Phil:

With over 1,500 credits in film, television and recording, USC graduate Phillip Yao has worked with many of the world's top composers and musicians including John Williams, James Horner, Michael Giacchino and Jerry Goldsmith.

He can be heard on recordings showcasing a variety of artists from all genres; Hilary Hahn, Barbra Streisand, Aerosmith, Ray Charles, and Neil Diamond, to name a few.

In addition, he has years of orchestral, opera, ballet, and Broadway show experience having been a member of the Pasadena Symphony and playing with the Pacific Symphony, Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra, Los Angeles Opera, Phantom of the Opera and Miss Saigon.

He and his wife, harpist, Alison Bjorkedal, currently spend time gardening, golfing, and beekeeping. They also enjoy spending time with Phil's 3-year old grandson. Post-playing, Phil has joined the team at Juliani Music Preparation.

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 Dave Everson, formerly of Detroit Symphony Orchestra and LA studio hornist.

About Dave:

David Everson, retired Assistant Principal Horn of the Detroit Symphony Orchestra, joined the DSO in 1999 after serving as Principal Horn of the Kansas City Symphony for 13 years. A Michigan native and student of Louis Stout at the University of Michigan, he has also performed as guest Principal with ensembles including the Los Angeles Philharmonic, National Symphony, and St. Paul Chamber Orchestra. Everson is active as a studio musician in Los Angeles, where he has recorded more than 150 film scores, and he continues to perform with the Naples Philharmonic and freelance in LA.

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 Gina Gillie, hornist, composer and traveler from the Pacific Northwest.

About Gina:

Dr. Gina Gillie is a sought-after composer, teacher, hornist, and traveler. She formerly held the position of Professor of Music at Pacific Lutheran University (2008-2024) where she taught horn, composition, ear training, chamber music, music history, music theory, and music appreciation. While all of Gillie's degrees and training are in Horn Performance, she has been an active composer since 2009, and she is frequently commissioned to write music for chamber ensembles that include brass instruments. In 2022, she was the winner of the IWBC Composition Competition with her trombone octet, Mountain Ascent, and in 2025, she was commissioned to write a brass quintet for the IWBC annual conference. In addition to these honors, Gillie's award-winning body of work was recognized in 2023 with Pacific Lutheran University's K.T. Tang Faculty Excellence Award in Research, and her music is performed internationally in countries including Australia, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, the Philippines, Portugal, Singapore, Spain, Taiwan, and the U.S. Her compositional style incorporates singing melodies, accessible harmonies, and frequent use of counterpoint. Many of her scores are published by Wavefront Music while others are self-published and available in digital format.

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 Julie Landsman, former Principal Horn of the Metropolitan Opera and teacher at University of Southern California.

About Julie:

Principal horn with the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra for 25 years, Julie Landsman is a distinguished performing artist and educator. She received a bachelor of music degree from The Juilliard School in 1975 under the tutelage of James Chambers and Ranier De Intinis, and has served as a member of the Juilliard faculty since 1989.

A native of Brooklyn, New York, Landsman achieved her dream of becoming principal of the MET in 1985 and held that position until 2010. She has also shared her talent to many other ensembles within the city as a current member of the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra and having performed and recorded with the New York Philharmonic. Additionally, she has performed with numerous groups outside the city, including her co-principal position with the Houston Symphony, substitute principal position with the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra, and recent performances with The Philadelphia Orchestra as Associate principal horn, and the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra, principal horn.

She has recorded for RCA, Deutsche Gramophone, CRI, Nonesuch and Vanguard labels, and is most famous for her performance of Wagner's "Ring" cycle as solo horn with the MET Opera under the direction of James Levine. Landsman has performed as chamber musician at many festivals and concert series, including the Marlboro Music Festival, Chamber Music Northwest, the Santa Fe Chamber Music Festival, Sarasota Music Festival, La Jolla Summerfest, the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, Orcas Island Chamber Music Festival, and the Metropolitan Museum of Art, where she appeared as a guest artist with the Guarneri Quartet. In the summers she performs and teaches at the Music Academy of the West , the Sarasota Music Festival, and the Aspen Music Festival.

World renowned as a master teacher, Julie Landsman holds faculty positions at The Juilliard School and Bard College Conservatory, and teaches frequently as a guest at the Curtis Institute. She has presented master classes at such distinguished institutions as The Colburn School, Curtis Institute, Eastman School of Music, Mannes College of Music, Manhattan School of Music, USC Thornton School of Music, Cal State Long Beach, Rowan University, University of Oklahoma, and University of Southern Mississippi, to name a few. She is also a visiting master teacher at the New World Symphony in Miami. Her international presence includes master classes in Norway, Sweden, and Israel. In 2016 Landsman was an honored jury member at the ARD horn competition in Munich, Germany.

Her students hold positions in the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra, Philadelphia Orchestra, Los Angeles Philharmonic, San Francisco Opera and Ballet Orchestras, Washington National Opera Orchestra, Dallas Symphony, St. Louis Symphony, New Jersey Symphony, Colorado Symphony, and the American Brass Quintet. She recently received the "Pioneer Award" from the International Women's Brass Conference and was a featured artist at the International Horn Society Conference in 2012 and 2015.

Her recent series of Carmine Caruso lessons on YouTube have led to further fame and renown among today's generation of horn players. Landsman currently resides in Santa Barbara, 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 Robert Watt, former Assistant Principal Horn of the Los Angeles Philharmonic.

Robert Lee Watt was born in Neptune, New Jersey the 4th child of seven. His father, Edward Watt Jr. played trumpet professionally in a Jazz ensemble, "The New Jersey Squires of Rhythm."

When Robert was eight years old he got curious about his father's trumpet, kept high on a shelf. Too short to reach it, Robert conscripted his little brother Tony to help. But with Tony on his shoulders he lost his balance, causing both of them to fall to the floor, trumpet in hand.

Robert then attempted to fix the dents in the instrument by using a hammer. The badly damaged trumpet was the way Robert's father discovered his interest in horns. After a serious reproach, Robert's father tried to teach him trumpet. However, it wasn't until years later that Robert discovered the instrument he really wanted to play.

While helping his father clean out a room in the basement Robert discovered some old 78 recordings. The curious Robert gave the old recordings a spin. It was the "William Tell Overture" on hearing the French horns on that recording he asked his father what instrument came in after the trumpet. His father informed him that it was a "French horn" "A middle instrument that never gets to play the melody like the trumpet…why, do you like that horn?" His father asked. Robert replied, "It gives me chills when I hear it, I love it. That's what I want to play." His father informed the young Robert that it really wasn't the instrument for him. Explaining that it was an instrument for thin-lipped white boys. "Your lips are too thick to play that small, thin, mouthpiece. You'd be better suited for the trumpet like you father."

Upon reaching high school Robert seriously pursued the French horn. Approaching the band director of his high school in Asbury Park, Robert was again told that his lips were too thick to play the French horn. After being persistent, the band director gave Robert an old French horn that barely worked. Nevertheless, Robert advanced quickly and was soon winning auditions for honor bands and orchestras throughout the state of New Jersey, bringing great honor to his high school.

After high school Robert was accepted to the New England Conservatory of Music in Boston where he majored in music and studied French horn with Harry Shapiro of the Boston Symphony. Mr. Shapiro took great interest in Robert pushing him hard. At the end of his first year Mr. Watt was asked to perform the Strauss Horn Concerto No. 1, with the Boston Pops Orchestra under Arthur Fiedler.

The following summer he received a fellowship to the Berkshire Music Festival at Tanglewood. Returning to the Conservatory for his third year Mr. Watt was informed by the president's office that the Conservatory had financial problems and that all scholarships would be canceled for the coming year.

At the end of his junior year at the Conservatory Mr. Watt was informed by his French horn teacher that it was time for him to audition for a position in a major symphony orchestra. On the advice of his teacher, Mr. Watt chose Los Angeles and Chicago.

When Mr. Watt returned from his audition journey, he had made the finals at both auditions. Two months later The Los Angeles Philharmonic offered him the position of Assistant First Horn. Making him the first African American French horn player hired by a major symphony orchestra in the United States. Mr. Watt joined the ranks of only a handful of African Americans playing in symphony orchestras in these United States.

According to the American Symphony Orchestra League, that represented less than 2% of the total, out of twenty-six top orchestras. Mr. Watt held his position until 2007, a career spanning 37 years.

Mr. Watt performed several times as soloist with the Los Angeles Philharmonic under Zubin Mehta and several orchestras in the Los Angeles area as well as the Oakland Symphony performing the Richard Strauss Second Horn Concerto

While a member of the Los Angeles Philharmonic Mr. Watt has performed with principal and guest conductors that included: Leonard Bernstein, Eugene Ormandy, Eric Leinsdrof, Carla Maria Giulini, Pierre Boulez, Zubin Mehta, Henry Lewis, James De Priest, Michael Tilson Thomas, Herbert Blumstedt, Andre Previn, Marin Alsop, Esa-Pekka Salonen and Christoph Von Dohnányi.

Included among the many world renown artists he has performed with were: Yo-Yo Ma, Luciano Pavarotti, Placido Domingo, Jose Carreras, Wynton Marsalias, Henry Mancini, Gladys Night, Isaac Hayes, Quincy Jones, Stevie Wonder, Ray Charles, Barry White, Rihanna, Paula Abdul, Herbie Hancock, Lalo Schifrin, The Carpenters, Benny Carter, Quincy Jones, Bon Jovi, Elton John and film composer, John Williams.

He has played on film scores of: Spiderman II, Rush Hour, Mission Impossible, Spike Lee's "Miracle at St. Anna, Golf and many others.

Mr. Watt has played the music for the Twentieth Century Fox cartoons, The Simpsons, American Dad, Family Guy and King of the Hill for the past three years. He played on the five hour TV special "The Jacksons, an American Family" under Harold Wheeler, and played for several years for the TV program "Startrek Voyager."

In the late 80's Mr. Watt helped organize an African American Brass Quintet, "The New Brass Ensemble" which performed throughout the United States and abroad.

Mr. Watt has done public speaking lecturing on music and African history in the Los Angeles area. He was hired as guest professor at Los Angele City College teaching the course, "Music of Black Americans".

Recently Mr. Watt executive produced a short film in memory of his friend Miles Davis. The film is based on the musical composition "Missing Miles" by Todd Cochran, commissioned by Mr. Watt, for French horn and piano. The short film was chosen by the Pan African Film Festival and the Garden State Film Festival.

Mr. Watt is a licensed airplane pilot with an instrument rating. He is a saber fencer and he speaks German and Italian.

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 Kate Caliendo, 2nd horn of the Jacksonville Symphony.

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 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.

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, Kate Warren, music educator, featured soloist with Blast! and all-around inspiration.

About Kate:

Kate Warren is an internationally acclaimed hornist and music educator. She currently serves as a College Lecturer in Music at Ocean County College and is also the featured French horn soloist for the Tony and Emmy award winning Broadway show Blast!. Additionally, Kate serves as the Social Media Coordinator for the International Horn Society. Prior to these appointments she was a Yaffe Post-Graduate Teaching Fellow for the Yale School of Music's Music in Schools Initiative. Kate has previously toured with the Dallas Brass and held positions with the Tallahassee Symphony Orchestra, the Northwest Florida Symphony Orchestra, and the Sinfonia Gulf Coast.

As an educator Kate is passionate about creating resources for music students and works extensively within social media to promote music and music education through her instagram page @katewarrenmusic. Recently Kate published her second book, 3 Week Fundamentals Boot Camp. Kate is an in-demand lecturer and researcher, regularly presenting on gender and equity in brass playing as well as social media and entrepreneurship in music.

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.