Caitlyn Smith Franklin

Caitlyn Smith Franklin is acting Fourth Horn of the Dallas Symphony Orchestra for the 2024/25 season. Previously a busy freelancer in the San Francisco Bay Area, Caitlyn appeared in the pit regularly as a frequent substitute with the San Francisco Opera and the San Francisco Ballet, including a one-year contract as Fourth Horn with the San Francisco Ballet for the 2022/23 season, and has performed extensively and toured nationally and internationally as an extra with the San Francisco Symphony. She has also performed with the Colorado Symphony, the New World Symphony and with the Dallas Symphony on their 2024 European Tour. Caitlyn is also a frequent recording artist at the Bay Area’s most notable sound scoring stages including Fantasy Studios and George Lucas’ Skywalker Ranch. Additionally, Caitlyn holds contracts with seven part-time, regional orchestras throughout the California Bay Area, and was honored to perform Strauss’s First Horn Concerto with the Stockton Symphony in March 2022.

A devoted teacher, Caitlyn has been the horn instructor at San Jose State University since 2017 where her teaching style focuses on the development of strong fundamentals as a means towards gaining the level of proficiency required for comfortable musical expression. A highlight of her time at SJSU was performing the consortium premiere of Catherine Likhuta’s latest horn concerto, Sure-Fire, in May 2024 with the SJSU wind ensemble. Caitlyn also maintains an active studio of private students, hoping to share her passion for music by helping young players achieve their playing goals and has had students go on to prestigious music schools including Oberlin and UCLA.

An Illinois native, Caitlyn holds bachelor’s degrees in horn performance and biology, graduating summa cum laude from the University of Miami in 2008 where her primary teachers were Jerry Peel and J.D. Shaw. Caitlyn continued her studies at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music where she studied with Robert Ward, earning a Master of Music degree in horn performance in 2011 and a professional studies diploma in 2012. Additionally, Caitlyn has performed at several notable summer festivals, including the National Repertory Orchestra, Music Academy of the West, Brevard Music Center and the Aspen Music Festival and School.