Horn

Caitlyn Smith-Franklin

Principal

Sponsored by Alice Weigel

Caitlyn Smith-Franklin, a native of the Chicago area, is a Bay Area freelancer and teacher. Caitlyn has been the Principal Horn of the Stockton Symphony since 2013. She also holds the position of Utility Horn with the Santa Rosa Symphony and 2nd Horn with the Santa Cruz Symphony. While studying at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music under the tutelage of Robert Ward of the San Francisco Symphony, Caitlyn also won two regional orchestra positions in 2010: 2nd Horn in the Monterey Symphony and 4th horn in the Fort Collins Symphony (CO). With a very active freelance orchestral career, Caitlyn performs regularly with numerous Bay Area orchestras including the San Francisco Symphony, Opera San Jose, the Marin Symphony, Oakland East Bay Symphony, Symphony Silicon Valley, the Fresno Philharmonic, the Napa Valley Symphony, Merced Symphony, Fremont Symphony, the SF Academy Orchestra, and the Magik*Magik Orchestra. In addition to her freelance work, Caitlyn maintains a small teaching studio and also enjoys playing woodwind chamber music.

During the summers, Caitlyn has also performed with the National Repertory Orchestra, at the Music Academy of the West, the Aspen Music Festival and School, the Brevard Music Center, the Pierre Monteux School for Conductors and Orchestral Musicians, and the Symphony Orchestra Academy of the Pacific.

Caitlyn holds Bachelor’s degrees in music (horn performance) and biology, graduating summa cum laude from the University of Miami in 2008. Subsequently, she earned her Master of Music degree in horn performance in 2011 and her Professional Studies Diploma in 2012, both from the San Francisco Conservatory of Music.

Braydon ross

Braydon Ross is a recent graduate of the Conservatory of Music at University of the Pacific and is continuing his studies at the Yale School of Music, pursuing a master’s degree in horn performance. Within the month following his graduation from Pacific, he won auditions for third horn of the Santa Cruz Symphony and fourth horn of the Stockton Symphony.

Braydon has performed with the Oakland Symphony, Sacramento Philharmonic, Stockton Symphony, West Edge Opera Festival, Opera Modesto, Merced Symphony, Zion Chamber Orchestra and Yale Philharmonia, and has been a Fellow for three years with Orchestra Next, resident orchestra for Eugene Ballet. He won audition competitions at the 2023 Northwest Horn Symposium and the 2022 International Women’s Brass Conference, and he presented a lecture on virtual ensemble audio/video production at the 52nd annual International Horn Symposium.

While at Pacific, Braydon won the 2023 Concerto Competition at Pacific and conducted numerous student-organized performances, including the premieres of several new works. An equally passionate educator, he student-taught band at a high school in the Sacramento area and maintained a studio of horn students. He is now a Teaching Artist through the Music in Schools Initiative in New Haven, Connecticut. 

JACKIE ORZEL

Sponsored by Robert and Kathy Zimel

Jackie (John) Orzel has been playing in the Santa Cruz Symphony since 1985 and has been a contracted member (4th horn) since 1991. He is also co-principal horn with Ensemble Monterey. He has played with a variety of local orchestras and ensembles as well as Santa Barbara Symphony and Eugene (Oregon) Symphony and Opera. He has taught music in the public schools and through other venues, as well as privately. In addition to music, he is interested in gardening and amateur radio.