The Horn Signal

Bob Reeves Brass

Welcome to The Horn Signal, brought to you by Bob Reeves Brass, where the horn takes center stage. In each episode, you'll hear from acclaimed horn players from around the world as they share their experiences and insights. Discover valuable advice on finding influential teachers, auditioning for college and graduate programs, building a successful career, and excelling in studio recordings. Whether you're a student, professional, or simply a fan of the instrument, The Horn Signal offers a wealth of knowledge and inspiration straight from the hearts of the world's finest horn players.

  1. Episode #14 - Kaylet Torrez

    10H AGO

    Episode #14 - Kaylet Torrez

    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 Kaylet Torrez, of the Pacific Symphony, and studio horn player.   About Kaylet: Kaylet Torrez began her musical studies at the age of three through Venezuela's renowned El Sistema program and started studying the horn at age eight. From 2004 to 2014, she was a member of the horn section of the Simón Bolívar Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Gustavo Dudamel, performing in major concert halls including the Berlin Philharmonie, Royal Albert Hall, KKL Lucerne, Beethovenhalle Bonn, Walt Disney Concert Hall, Carnegie Hall, and Teatro alla Scala, among others. In 2014, she was appointed Principal Horn of the National Symphony Orchestra of Colombia. In 2015, she received a full scholarship to study at the Colburn School in Los Angeles with Andrew Bain. Since 2016, Kaylet has performed with major orchestras including the Los Angeles Philharmonic, London Symphony Orchestra, Chicago Symphony Orchestra, San Francisco Symphony, the National Arts Centre Orchestra, and the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra, appearing frequently as a guest principal horn. She has also toured internationally with the Los Angeles Philharmonic and the Pacific Symphony. In 2018, she joined the roster of Hollywood studio musicians and has recorded for major motion pictures including The Lion King, Jumanji, Minions, Bumblebee, Predator, Aquaman, and Terminator, among others. In 2025, Kaylet won the Associate Principal Horn audition with the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra. She continues to appear as a guest principal horn internationally and is regularly invited to perform at festivals and special projects. An active educator, Kaylet has presented masterclasses and educational programs in Los Angeles (including UCLA Herb Alpert School of Music), Mexico City, and Colombia. She currently serves as Assistant Principal Horn of the Pacific Symphony, a position she has held since 2017, and maintains a private studio where she mentors young horn players in orchestral performance, studio work, and audition preparation.

    54 min
  2. Episode #13 - Preston Shepard

    JAN 28

    Episode #13 - Preston Shepard

    The Horn Signal is proudly brought to you by Bob Reeves Brass and the Colburn School Summer Brass Institute. Join hosts John Snell and Preston Shepard as they interview horn players around the world.  Today's episode features Preston Shepard, Los Angeles freelance horn player and podcast host.   About Preston Shepard: Preston Shepard is an active free-lance hornist in the Los Angeles area. A student of Joseph Meyer, he studied at Cal State University Northridge and Azusa Pacific University. Preston has performed with the San Diego Symphony, the Los Angeles Opera, Pacific Symphony, Los Angeles Master Chorale, Long Beach Symphony, Santa Barbara Symphony, Opera Santa Barbara, San Bernardino Symphony, New West Symphony, Redlands Symphony, Riverside Philharmonic, Santa Maria Symphony, Los Angeles Jewish Symphony, and many others around the Greater Los Angeles area. He has also recorded on numerous feature films, television shows and specials such as Avatar 2, Zootopia 2, Hocus Pocus 2, Aquaman 2, Wish, Encanto : Live at the Hollywood Bowl, The Game Awards, Big City Greens, The Nun, The Boogeyman, Geostorm, Inhumans, The Orville, Blood and Treasure, Homecoming Season 2, Star Trek : Lower Decks, Picard, Discovery, Strange New Worlds, Solar Opposites, and Presumed Innocent as well as for video game projects such as Fortnite, Overwatch and League of Legends.  He has also recorded on albums for artists such as Avenged Sevenfold and Deadmau5. Preston is the adjunct professor of horn at Westmont College and The Master's University.

    2h 13m
  3. Episode #12 - Audrey Flores

    11/26/2025

    Episode #12 - Audrey Flores

    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 Audrey Flores, NYC freelancer and Broadway horn player. About Audrey: Audrey Flores is a freelancing horn player in New York City. She performs on a Patterson Hornworks Triple Horn. Audrey began playing as a substitute on The Lion King in 2012, and as solo horn on Aladdin in 2015, and held chairs in Tammy Faye in 2024 and Boop! The Musical in 2025. She is the horn player at Paper Mill Playhouse and has also played productions at the Westport Playhouse and at the Delaware Theatre Company. She can be heard on cast album recordings for Boop!, She Has Risen, an all-female concept album of Jesus Christ Superstar, and on the single tracks for Lempicka. Audrey also recorded a self-titled solo album in 2017. Audrey appeared as Principal Horn of the Princeton Symphony and the Reading Symphony during the 2023/2024 season. She was Acting Principal Horn of the Columbus Symphony Orchestra in Ohio for the 2017-2018 season. Audrey has also played with the New World Symphony, the Miami, the New Jersey Festival Orchestra, the Distinguished Concerts International Orchestra of New York, the Jerusalem Symphony, the American Ballet Theatre, the New York Philharmonic, the Mariinsky Orchestra, and the Orpheus Chamber Ensemble.  She was a musician in the Radio City Christmas Spectacular Orchestra in 2019, 2018, 2012 and 2011, and in the New York Spectacular in the summer of 2016.  She is also a proud member of Russ Anixter's Hippie Big Band in NYC, who recently produced its first album. She has also recorded for the 8-Bit Big Band, and is currently developing a new solo album which will celebrate Sephardic, Spanish, and Mexican music through horn and guitar. Audrey is a passionate advocate for musicians of color in the arts. In addition to mentoring and creating access for musicians of color in NYC through Musicians of Social Equity (MUSE) and Maestra Music, she has been a faculty member of Juilliard MAP since 2021, where she strives to give young underrepresented musicians any resource and benefit they might need to pursue the horn successfully and honestly.

    1h 28m
  4. Episode #11 - Julie Pilant

    10/29/2025

    Episode #11 - Julie Pilant

    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).

    1h 33m
  5. Episode #8 - Gina Gillie

    07/23/2025

    Episode #8 - Gina Gillie

    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.

    1h 22m
  6. Episode #7 - Julie Landsman

    06/25/2025

    Episode #7 - 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 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.

    40 min

Ratings & Reviews

5
out of 5
11 Ratings

About

Welcome to The Horn Signal, brought to you by Bob Reeves Brass, where the horn takes center stage. In each episode, you'll hear from acclaimed horn players from around the world as they share their experiences and insights. Discover valuable advice on finding influential teachers, auditioning for college and graduate programs, building a successful career, and excelling in studio recordings. Whether you're a student, professional, or simply a fan of the instrument, The Horn Signal offers a wealth of knowledge and inspiration straight from the hearts of the world's finest horn players.