French Horn
Musician, Teacher, Photographer
About Steph
Steph Smith was predestined to excel as a professional french horn player. Born into a family of musicians, she is a third generation horn player who has inherited artistry that simply cannot be taught.
Originally from Park Ridge, Illinois, Steph relocated to Boston, Massachusetts in 2010 to attend the Boston Conservatory. In 2014 she graduated with a Bachelors of Music in french horn performance.
Recognized as an up-and-coming artist Steph has received a Boston Conservatory Artistic Merit Scholarship, the Chicago Federation of Musicians Scholarship, and the James D Sedlack Memorial Scholarship to aid her towards becoming a professional musician.
Steph’s musical experiences span farther than the range of the instrument itself. While attending the Boston Conservatory she was trained to perform for all mediums and styles of performance art, including dance, combined chorus, musical theater, opera, wind ensemble, brass ensemble, chamber music, and orchestra.
Steph was reviewed positively as a sensitive player during a performance of Mozart’s Don Giovanni.
“...and the difficult horn parts (This is, after all, an opera in which cuckoldry is important) stood out with bright but never overbearing sound” -The Boston Musical Intellegencer.
Steph was honored to be selected to perform in the late Gunther Schuller’s Progressive Jazz Orchestra conducted by the Schuller himself during the Boston Conservatory's New Music Festival in 2011. She is an active performing chamber musician in the Greater Boston area. Most recently, Steph was a founding member of 4Play Horn Quartet which was awarded first place at the 48th International Horn Society Symposium's horn quartet competition. The quartet was honored to perform on one of the final featured artists performances. Steph was a founding member of the woodwind ensemble The Niji Quintet, best known for its extensive community outreach. The quintet was selected to perform as featured artists of the Museum of Fine Arts' Community Concert series in 2014. Two of Steph’s chamber ensembles have won the Boston Conservatory Honors Chamber Music Competition, once in 2011, and again in 2013.
Steph’s orchestral opportunities have taken her to locations that musicians only dream about. She has performed in Boston’s Symphony Hall, Chicago’s Symphony Center, New York’s Carnegie Hall, Rotterdam’s de Doelen, and Amsterdam’s Concertgebow. Locally Steph has performed as a member of the Haffner Sinfonietta, East Coast Scoring Orchestra, and Brookline Symphony Orchestra. She has also substituted for the Boston Philharmonic as well as performed as a utility player for the Park Ridge Civic Orchestra in Illinois.
Steph studied under esteemed french horn pedagogues Eli Epstein, Melanie Cottle, and Dorothy Katz. She has been coached by world renowned musicians Geralyn Coticone, Adrian Morejon, and Naomi Bensdorf Frisch. Steph has also performed in Master classes with notable artists James Somerville, Jason Snider, Luca Benucci, Norman Bolter, Joan Watson, Tage Larson, and Dale Clevenger. When not performing Steph is either teaching private lessons or is on location shooting head shots for musicians as a freelance photographer.
Media
BPYO Tour to the Netherlands. Benjamin Zander, conductor A Tour of Possibility. June 16-28, 2013
BPYO performing Mahler's Symphony No. 2 "Resurrection" at The Royal Concertgebow in Amsterdam
East Coast Scoring in Studio
Please contact me if you are interested in arranging a lesson, looking to fill an opening,
or interested in hearing more about my photography services and rates.
Freelance Photographer. Providing services for musical colleagues, friends, and families.
