THE USUAL SUSPECTS
Dr. Gio Washington-Wright's Top Los Angeles Studio Musicians Tribute Site
James Atkinson also performs on French Horn with the Los Angeles Music Center Opera (principal), Glendale Symphony (principal), Santa Monica Symphony (principal), Fine Arts Brass Quintet, all major Motion Picture and Television studios, and as a regular substitute with the Los Angeles Philharmonic.
He has also played with the US Navy Band, Calgary Philharmonic (principal) and Utah Symphony Orchestra (associate principal). He has received scholarships for and participated in both the Aspen Music Festival and the Music Academy of the West at Santa Barbara.
Steve Becknell is on the top of his game as a studio hornist in Los Angeles. He's played on the soundtracks of over 600 movies including Jurassic Park, Polar Express, Lemony Snicket, Spiderman II, and Pirates of the Caribbean.
Kristy has a Doctor of Musical Arts degree from the University of Southern California, where she also received her Master of Music. She received a Bachelor of Music and a Performer's Certificate from the Eastman School of Music. In 1993 she was the First Place winner of the International Horn Society solo competition, and in 1997 she was the First Place winner of the solo competition at the International Women's Brass Conference. Her principal teachers were Verne Reynolds, Vincent DeRosa and James Decker.
BRIAN O'CONNOR
Brian O'Connor has been involved in recording almost 2,000 films in the thirty plus years that he has participated as a first-call Los Angeles Studio Recording Musician. From the year 2000 until the present, he has participated in over 315 films and numerous TV shows. Aside from playing on such movies as "Titanic," "Finding Nemo," “War of the Worlds,” "Toy Story," "Toy Story 2," "The Bourne Identity," 'Enough," "White Oleander," and "Along Came a Spider," he has played Principal and Solo Horn on “The Pacifier,” “Chicken Little,” “Dreamer,” “Zathura,” “The Notebook,” "Blade 2," “Lion King,” "Jurassic Park 2," 'Star Trek: First Contact," "Princess Diaries," "Cats and Dogs," “Crimson Tide,” "The Scorpion King," "Seabisquit," "All the Pretty Horses," "Austin Powers: The Spy That Shagged Me," "Austin Powers 2," "Beverly Hills Ninja" and “Down Periscope” to name a few. He has been the Principal Horn on the TV shows "Star Trek: The Next Generation," "Star Trek: Deep Space Nine," "Star Trek: Enterprise," “The Young Riders” and “The Carol Burnett Show.” He participated in the live performance of John William’s "ET" on the 25th Anniversary concert at the Shrine Auditorium, which was added to the re-release of "ET" on the 25th Anniversary DVD release.
In addition to his recording work, Brian O’Connor has been the President of the Recording Musicians Association – Los Angeles for six years and has taught Horn at UCLA for eight years. He has been a member of the Pacific Serenades chamber music group for a number of years and has performed in many memorable concerts of famous and newly composed chamber music that include Horn. O’Connor was Principal Horn of the American Ballet Theater Orchestra in Los Angeles for ten years and played Principal Horn for many Broadway shows for over twenty years including “Sweeney Todd” and the original production of “Phantom of the Opera.” He is one of the most recorded Horn players in the world and people in every country have heard his work including both Principal and Section performances in the Academy Awards many times in addition to all of his Film, TV, Record, Jingle, Live Television and Video Game recordings.
JIM THATCHER
James Thatcher began his professional career at the age of 16 when he played and studied in Mexico City with his uncle, Gerald Thatcher, former principal hornist with the National Symphony of Mexico. Subsequent instructors have included Fred Fox, Don Peterson, Wendell Hoss, James Decker, Vincent DeRosa and master classes with Hermann Baumann. Mr. Thatcher has been a member of the Phoenix Symphony, the Utah Symphony and the Los Angeles Philharmonic.
Today, he is principal horn of the Pasadena Symphony and the Los Angeles Music Center Opera but principally he is a studio player, a recipient of the Most Valuable Player Award from the National Association of Recording Arts and Sciences and "arguably the most often heard horn player in the world" due to his performances on some 70 to 80 films per year for the last 15 years.
Jim has the enviable position of being the favored first horn of multiple Oscar winning composer John Williams performing in such films as Always, Jurassic Park, The Lost World, Sleepers (in which he received an on-screen credit), Nixon, Schindler’s List, JFK, Sabrina, Home Alone I and II, Rosewood, Seven Years in Tibet and The Patriot as well as the fanfare for the 1992 Olympics. He also works regularly with other Hollywood greats Jerry Goldsmith, Randy Newman, John Barry, James Horner and Alan Silvestri to name a few and can be heard as well in the tracks to Glory, Rocketeer, Field of Dreams, Dances with Wolves, Toy Story, Apollo 13, Forrest Gump, First Knight, Hook, as well as Independence Day and the Star Trek movies.
RICK TODD
WEBSITE: WWW.RICHARDTODDMUSIC.COM
From Carnegie Hall to the Hollywood Bowl, from the Jazz Bakery to Birdland, internationally renowned concert, jazz, and recording artist Richard Todd has earned acclaim as one of the finest horn soloists today. Gold medal winner of the 1980 Concours Internationale Toulon, he is a Pro Musicis International Foundation Award winner and is continually expanding the boundaries of the horn world. He has performed under the batons of such luminaries as Bernstein, Guilini, Marriner, Abravanel, Ozawa, Previn, Rilling and Schuller. Renowned for his performances that “are simply startling in their dexterity” with “a heart-clutching sound”; he is also deeply committed to arts education and making the arts more accessible to all listeners.
As a classical artist Todd’s rigorous schedule includes recitals and solo engagements across North America, his position as principal horn with the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra, work in the film industry where he has been a recording artist on over 1,000 motion picture soundtracks, and on recording projects with performers such as Streisand, Madonna, Michael Jackson, Manhattan Transfer, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Natalie Cole and Dave Grusin. As a jazz artist he has appeared in concerts and recordings with such artists as Clark Terry, Ray Brown, Woody Herman, Lalo Shifrin, McCoy Tyner and Andre Previn. Richard Todd breaks down the barriers of music, being equally at home in all areas. He has performed as guest soloist with orchestras in the United States and abroad, including the Saarbrucken Radio Orchestra, Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra, Saint John’s Smith Square London, and the New Orleans, Santa Barbara, Lima, Northeast Pennsylvania, Arkansas, Akron, Long Beach, San Luis Obispo, Pasadena and Santa Rosa Symphonies. Festival appearances include the Oregon Bach, Mostly Mozart, Tanglewood, Casals, La Jolla, Tucson, Chatauqua, Sedona, Sandpoint, Music Academy of the West, Grand Teton, Green Festival and the San Luis Obispo Mozart Festival.
BRAD WARNAAR
Brad Warnaar has enjoyed a richly varied musical career since becoming a member of the Rochester Philharmonic at the age of 19. After several years in Canada as a member of the Toronto Symphony and later, as Principal Horn of the Hamilton Philharmonic, Brad relocated to Los Angeles, where he has played horn for over 1,000 motion pictures and countless records, commercials, and TV shows, as well as been a frequent guest member of the Los Angeles Philharmonic and Los Angeles Chamber Orchestras. He has simultaneously established himself as an orchestrator, having scored films with composers such as Michael Kamen, David Newman, Elliot Goldenthal, and Hans Zimmer. Brad Warnaar is founder and conductor of Imaginary Winds, a professional wind ensemble consisting of some of the finest studio and symphonic artists in Los Angeles.
