Jeff Garza

Principal Horn

Jeff Garza is principal horn of the Oregon Symphony and the Britt Festival Orchestra. He has previously held principal positions with the San Antonio Symphony, Houston Grand Opera, Utah Festival Opera and Festival Mozaic Orchestra. Jeff has served as guest principal horn in dozens of orchestras including the Los Angeles Philharmonic, San Francisco Symphony, Cincinnati Symphony, Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra, Utah Symphony, New Zealand Symphony, Malaysian Philharmonic, and Melbourne Symphony. He has performed, toured and recorded extensively with the San Francisco Symphony and was an acting member of the orchestra during the 2016-17 season.

Jeff has performed at festivals and chamber music series throughout the United States including Chamber Music Northwest, Menlo School Summer Brass Institute, Chamber Music International, Concordia Chamber Players, Cape Cod Chamber Music Festival, Cactus Pear Music Festival, 45th Parallel, Chatter ABQ and the Texas Music Festival. Jeff is a core member and former Artistic Director of Olmos Ensemble, a chamber music group based in San Antonio, Texas. He has been a featured performer at several national and regional horn workshops and has performed concertos by Mozart, Strauss, Schumann, Telemann, and Forster with the San Antonio Symphony, the Britt Festival Orchestra, and the Festival Mozaic Orchestra. Jeff’s recording of Mark Abel's The Long March for Delos Records was released in October 2022 to critical acclaim.  In 2024, Jeff will be featured on the premiere recording of Andrew Lewinter’s Horn Sonata No. 2 and Quartet for Brass Instruments and Piano for Novona Records.

Jeff earned a Bachelor of Music degree from the Shepherd School of Music at Rice University and is an alumnus of the Interlochen Center for the Arts where he was awarded an Emerson Scholarship and the Young Artist Certificate, Interlochen Arts Academy’s highest artistic honor. He has held fellowship positions with the New World Symphony, Tanglewood Music Center, National Repertory Orchestra, and the Jerusalem International Symphony Orchestra.

Jeff is Instructor of Horn at Oregon State University and the University of Portland. He has previously held faculty positions at Brevard Music Center, St. Mary’s University, San Antonio College, and Trinity University. Jeff has conducted masterclasses and clinics at music schools across the United States including University of Oregon, San Francisco Conservatory of Music, University of California-Berkeley, San Jose State University, University of Houston, and Texas State University.