Featured Artist
Ryan Little - Hailed by Montréal’s La Presse as “nuanced and singing,” Ryan Little was appointed as Principal Horn of the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra in 2023 by Music Director Nathalie Stutzmann. Born in Burke, Virginia to a musical family, he began studying piano at age 3 before switching to viola, trumpet, and eventually to horn at the age of 10. Ryan received his
Bachelor of Music degree from the Northwestern University Bienen School of Music in 2015
where he studied with Gail Williams and Jonathan Boen. In 2017 he received his Master of
Music degree from the Shepherd School of Music at Rice University where he studied with
William VerMeulen of the Houston Symphony.
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In addition to his responsibilities in Atlanta, Ryan performs as the Principal Horn at the
Brevard Music Center in North Carolina. He has performed as Guest Principal Horn with the
orchestras of Cincinnati, Frankfurt Radio, Minnesota, National Arts Centre, Orlando, Palm
Beach, San Francisco, Sarasota, Vancouver, and WDR Cologne, and has also performed with
the Chicago Arts Orchestra, Civic Orchestra of Chicago, Florida Grand Opera, Florida
Orchestra, Houston Ballet, Houston Grand Opera, Houston Symphony, Illinois Symphony
Orchestra, New World Symphony, Nu Deco Ensemble, Philadelphia Orchestra, and Utah
Symphony. He won Second Prize and the Gretchen Snedeker Prize at the 2013 International
Horn Competition of America. In 2014, he was selected as a finalist for the International Horn
Society’s Premier Soloist Competition in London, England and at the Aeolus International
Competition for Wind Instruments in Düsseldorf, Germany. As a concert soloist, he has
performed with the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, FGCU Symphony Orchestra, Naples
Philharmonic, Northwestern University’s Baroque Music Ensemble and Symphonic Wind
Ensemble, l’Orchestre de la Francophonie (Montréal), and the Skokie Valley Symphony.
During the summers Ryan has performed at the Britt Music & Arts Festival, Eastern Music
Festival, Grand Teton Music Festival, Grant Park Music Festival, Lakes Area Music Festival,
and Sun Valley Music Festival. He also participated as a fellow in the Castleton Festival,
Lucerne Festival Academy, National Orchestral Institute + Festival, l’Orchestre de la
Francophonie, Spoleto Festival USA, Tanglewood Music Center, Verbier Festival, and YOA
Orchestra of the Americas. Ryan performs on instruments made in 2012 and 2022 by Karl
Hill of Rockford, Michigan.
Faculty
Debra Sherrill-Ward, horn, is a member of the Hilton Head Symphony
Orchestra, the Savannah Philharmonic and performs frequently with Chamber Music Charleston. Debra was honored to be the featured Guest Artist for the 2018 Western Illinois University Horn Festival. She is the director of the Charleston Horn Camp, a camp she started in 2010 for middle school through college age horn students. Debra promotes contemporary composers and has commissioned new works, including: “Moonflower” for solo horn by Kate Caliendo, “Sacred Secrets” for horn and piano by James Naigus, “Pastime” for horn and piano by Carrado Maria
Saglietti, “Hyperion in the Red Forest” for Soprano and Horn and “Angels Nine” for 3 Horns and Piano” by Karen Walwyn.
Debra has been a featured soloist with the North Charleston Pops Orchestra, the North Charleston Brass Band and soloed with the Hilton Head Symphony Orchestra horn section, performing the Schumann Konzertstück for 4 horns.
During the summer, she is on the faculty of the Varna International Music Academy in Columbia, S.C. and for the InterHarmony Music Festival in Acqui Terme, Italy. She has played for the St. Augustine Music Festival, Loon Lake Live, Musica en Segura Festival, the Endless Mountains Music Festival, and the Shenandoah Valley Bach Festival. Debra was a member of the Barcelona Symphony, the South Dakota Symphony, and the Charleston Symphony. She studied under Froydis Werke in Oslo, Norway, Jerome Ashby at the Juilliard School, Erik Ralske at Manhattan School of Music and Roger Collins at Western Illinois University. Her other notable teachers include John Cerminaro and Randall Faust.
Suzanne Kerr Reed is a native of Charleston, SC. She graduated from Bishop England High School and went on to obtain her Bachelor of Music Education and a Performance Certificate from Shenandoah Conservatory of Music. She has taught band and music at Bishop England High School, Holly Hill Primary School, Moultrie Middle School, Charleston Catholic School and currently teaches at the Charleston County School of the Arts.
As a French hornist she has performed with the National Symphony, the Kennedy Center Opera Orchestra, the Baltimore Symphony Orchestras, Charleston Symphony, The Long Bay Symphony, Hilton Head Symphony, the Charleston Wind Ensemble, and the Charleston Community band. Mrs. Reed has been a featured soloist with The Charleston Community Band and she has been a featured performer during the Piccolo Spoleto Festival. Since coming to SOA, she has lead the Middle school band to receive the Highest honors at state and national events, including an invitation to the prestigious Music for All’s National concert festival. Mrs. Reed’s private students have earned over 1 million dollars in college scholarship monies. She is married to fellow hornist Brian Reed and has 3 children: Luke, Mary and Mark.
Sean Yancer has taught horn at Indiana University Jacobs School of Music (2022-2023) and the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music (2021-2023). He served as full-time Lecturer of Music at Youngstown State University from 2018 to 2022. Sean has presented horn masterclasses at West Chester University, University of Akron, Kent State University, Bowling Green State University, Oberlin College and Conservatory, Ohio University, The Ohio State University, and the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music. Sean has performed with the New York Philharmonic, Columbus Symphony Orchestra, the Detroit Opera, The Who, and “Weird Al” Yankovic, in addition to CityMusic Cleveland, Cleveland Pops Orchestra, Blue Water Chamber Orchestra, Windsor Symphony (Canada), Akron Symphony, West Virginia Symphony, Symphoria (Syracuse), and as a regular musician at Cleveland’s Playhouse Square. In New York City, Sean played in the Broadway orchestra pits of the Lion King, Man of La Mancha, Phantom of the Opera, and on the stages of Carnegie Hall and Lincoln Center.
Sean is passionate about commissioning and performing contemporary music by composers who have been historically marginalized and underrepresented in music. Sean was awarded a University Research Council Grant from YSU for a project titled “Beyond Auf dem Strom - Diversifying Repertoire for High Voice, Horn, and Piano Ensemble.” His chamber music trio has commissioned and premiered works by Elliott Bark, Caro Haxo, Andrea Reinkemeyer, James Wilding, Kay Rhie, KeeYoung Kim, and Kevin Scott.
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Sean was a member of the Pacific Music Festival in Sapporo, Japan as well as the National Repertory Orchestra in Breckenridge, Colorado. He holds a Bachelor of Music Education degree from The Ohio State University and a Master of Music from the University of Michigan. Additionally, Sean completed DMA coursework at SUNY Stony Brook with William Purvis and studied in Oslo, Norway with Frøydis Ree Wekre.
"Debra Sherrill Ward and Suzanne Reed run a fantastic horn camp every summer that never disappoints. They always elevate the level of horn playing locally and abroad through their thorough pedagogical knowledge and passion for French Horn. Former and present students tell me that camp is a blast. They are also great at providing master classes or as clinicians. They know horn and how to teach it to a wide variety of students." - Ronnie Ward, Director of Bands, Westview Middle School, Goose Creek, SC