Our Musicians
Meredith Crawford
Meredith Crawford is Principal Viola of Orange County’s Pacific Symphony. Recent reviews have singled out her “glorious sound [and] tasteful musicality” (Voice of Orange County), calling her a “sensitive, poetic singer on her instrument” (Classical Voice). A native of Maine, Meredith studied English and Music at Oberlin, forgoing graduate school in favor of making an immediate entrance into the working world after winning her first orchestral audition at 22.
Her versatile orchestral career includes not only her leadership position in Pacific Symphony, but also her work as a studio player, recording soundtracks for movies like “Frozen 2,” “Mulan” and the most recent installments of “Star Wars.”
Meredith also enjoys collaborating with other musicians in a chamber music setting. She is Resident Violist of Salastina, an LA-based chamber music series, as well as a member of the Central4 Piano Quartet, and performs in various small ensembles with other distinguished musicians in the Los Angeles area. She can be heard on the recently-released “American Mirror,” an album of new music by LA composer Derrick Spiva, which was recorded with Salastina.
Crawford especially appreciates the diversity of musical opportunities as a freelancer in Los Angeles, having performed in small jazz clubs, Pops shows with Broadway artists, an arena of thousands for Game of Thrones Live, and Rent! Live on Fox, as well as her extensive work in the classical arena. She currently resides in Long Beach.
Christine Frank
Violinist Christine Frank is fortunate to perform a great variety of music, from the symphonic masterpieces of the 18th century to the brilliant TV animation scores of today. As a member of the Pacific Symphony and the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra, she has performed with classical icons such as Renee Fleming, Yo-Yo Ma, and Itzhak Perlman, as well as popular superstars like Willy Nelson, Bernadette Peters, and Earth, Wind & Fire.
Christine has performed at the chamber music festivals of Aspen, Santa Fe, Norfolk, and Costa Rica. As a member of the Anacapa String Quartet, she performed across the United States and was a prize winner at the Fischoff National Chamber Music Competition. She premiered and recorded many new works as a member of Southwest Chamber Music, whose recording of Carlos Chavez’s chamber music won a Grammy Award in 2004.
Christine enjoys teaching violin to young beginners as well as advanced students. In addition to a small private studio, she teaches violin and chamber music at the Hall-Musco Conservatory at Chapman University.
Christine grew up in Vienna, Virginia and studied at the Cleveland Institute of Music and Yale School of Music. Her teachers have included Syoko Aki, Linda Cerone, and David Updegraff. She studied chamber music with the members of the Cavani, Colorado, and Tokyo String Quartets.
Michael Franz
Michael Franz joined the Pacific Symphony as principal bass in January 2020. A native of Burlington, Vermont, he began playing double bass in public school at age 14. Franz is a 2014 graduate of the Eastman School of Music where he received his bachelor's degree in Applied Double Bass and Music Education with High Distinction. He won the Doublestop Foundation Instrument Loan Competition in 2016. In 2018, he completed his master’s degree from Bard College as a member of the inaugural class of The Orchestra Now, with which he often performed as principal bass at Carnegie Hall and Lincoln Center. From 2018-2019, he was a fellow with the New World Symphony.
Since 2017, Franz has performed as a regular substitute with the Philadelphia Orchestra and has joined them on tours throughout Europe and Asia. Franz has also performed professionally with the National Symphony Orchestra and numerous orchestras throughout the northeastern U.S. A passionate music educator, Franz has taught in public school around New York State and the Miami area. In the summers of 2016 and 2017, he coached and performed with string students in Cali, Colombia.
His festival appearances have included the New York String Orchestra Seminar, Verbier Festival Orchestra, Moritzburg Festival Academy, and Bard Music Festival. His primary teachers were William Tilley and James VanDemark.
Joshua Ranz
Hailed in the LA Times as offering a “stunning rendition” of the Mozart Clarinet Concerto, and an “exciting” version of the Copland Clarinet Concerto, Joshua Ranz is principal clarinet of the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra. In addition, he holds the chair of principal clarinet of the New West Symphony and also the position of bass clarinet with the Pacific Symphony.
As principal of LACO, Mr. Ranz has performed concertos by Mozart, Copland and Strauss. On LACO’s 2008 European tour, Josh was featured prominently with mezzo-soprano Vesselina Kasarova in performances of Mozart’s aria from the opera La Clemenza di Tito, “Parto, ma tu ben mio,” in LACO’s concerts in the Italian city of Treviso; Hanover, Hamburg and Berlin in Germany; and in Paris, France. He also served as acting principal on the Pacific Symphony’s European Tour in 2006 and numerous seasons the Pacific Symphony.
Mr. Ranz has filled in as principal clarinet for the LA Opera and Hollywood Bowl orchestras, as well as the Pasadena and Santa Barbara symphonies, and has performed with the San Diego and Colorado symphonies. He also performs regularly with the Los Angeles Philharmonic.
Mr. Ranz is also very active in chamber music, He plays regularly on LACO’s In Focus Series. He has performed with The New Hollywood String Quartet, Chamber Music Palisades, The South Bay Chamber Music Series, Jacaranda and numerous other chamber music programs throughout Southern California.
From 2004-2015 Ranz performed regularly with the Mainly Mozart Festival in San Diego, California serving as principal clarinet in the summer of 2011. He also performed as principal at the Oregon Bach Festival in Eugene, Oregon. In the summer of 2009, he performed in Maine for the Bay Chamber Concerts series with a roster of all-principal wind players from top orchestras around the country. He performed with the Chautauqua Symphony Orchestra in western New York during the summers from 2001-09.
In addition to his performances, Mr. Ranz has recorded with LACO and the Pacific Symphony and is active in the television and motion picture industry. Mr. Ranz has also played on over 200 soundtracks for John Williams, James Horner, Randy Newman, Alan Silvestri, Jerry Goldsmith, Alexander Desplat and many others. Some of the films he has played on include Star Wars VII and IX, The Lego Movie 2, Toy Story IV, Men in Black, Ready Player One, Frozen 2 and will be featured prominently playing klezmer clarinet in an upcoming film called “An American Pickle” featuring Seth Rogan.
Ranz is also a very passionate instructor of the clarinet. He is on Faculty as Lecturer in Clarinet at the UCLA Herb Alpert School of Music and the Biola Conservatory of Music.
Before moving to Los Angeles in 1999, Josh was a member of the Honolulu and San Jose symphonies. He was a fellow and a faculty member of the Aspen Music School and Festival and a fellow at the Tanglewood Music Festival. He has played recitals at the International Clarinet Association Convention and has performed with the New York Woodwind Quintet at the Norfolk Chamber Music Festival.
Originally from New York, Josh attended Fiorella H. LaGuardia High School of Music & Art and Performing Arts. He went on to receive his Bachelor’s degree at Harvard College, majoring in music composition and analysis. He then received his Master of Music at the Yale School of Music, where he studied with David Shifrin.
Josh and his wife, oboist Lelie Resnick, have two sons, Jonah, born in October 2006, and Nathan, born in November 2009
Lelie Resnick
Lelie Resnick has played English horn with Pacific Symphony since 1997. She holds the same position with the Long Beach Symphony. She has also recently won the position of Principal Oboe with the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra. Her previous positions have included English horn with the Colorado, Honolulu and San Diego Symphonies. Resnick has been performing with the Los Angeles Philharmonic since 1999, including a one-year position during the 2004-05 season. She has performed on numerous tours with the Los Angeles Philharmonic as well as Pacific Symphony’s European Tour in 2006.
As a soloist, Resnick has been featured on a recording with the Curtis Symphony, conducted by Andre Previn and released by EMI, as well as a featured soloist with the Honolulu Symphony and Pacific Symphony performing Sibelius’s “Swan of Tuonela” and Copland’s “Quiet City.” Resnick is also active in recording for film and television.
Resnick graduated from the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia where she studied with Richard Woodhams, principal oboist in the Philadelphia Orchestra. Before going to Curtis, she attended high school at the Idyllwild School of Music and the Arts, studying with Allan Vogel and continuing her studies with him at the California Institute of the Arts. Resnick currently resides in Long Beach with her clarinetist husband, fellow Pacific Symphony member Joshua Ranz. They have two young boys, Jonah and Nathan.
Benjamin Smolen
Benjamin Smolen has performed across the globe, from the United States to Europe, Russia, and Japan. He joined the Pacific Symphony Orchestra in 2011, where he holds the Valerie and Hans Imhof Principal Flute Chair. He has also performed as guest Principal Flute with the Los Angeles Philharmonic, San Diego Symphony, Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra, Houston Grand Opera, Los Angeles Opera, and Pasadena Symphony.
In addition to his work on stage, Benjamin is active in the Hollywood scoring industry. He can be heard on projects such as Star Wars (The Last Jedi, The Force Awakens, Rise of Skywalker), X-Men: Apocalypse, The BFG, The Post, Ghostbusters, Mozart in the Jungle, Monsters University, Marriage Story, and on Neil Young's latest album Storytone.
Benjamin has given recitals around the world, including performances as a featured guest at the Japan Flute Festival and the National Flute Association’s annual convention. He won First Prize at the Haynes International Flute Competition and James Pappoutsakis Memorial Flute Competition and Second Prize at the New York Flute Club Young Artist Competition and National Flute Association Young Artist Competition.
Benjamin holds degrees from Princeton University, the New England Conservatory, and the Moscow Conservatory. He studied with Paula Robison, Michael Parloff, Jayn Rosenfeld, and Aleksandr Golyshev. He pursued additional studies at the University of Michigan with Amy Porter and twice as a Fellow at the Tanglewood Music Center with Elizabeth Rowe.