_{By Abi Falin Horspool}

Bryn Ripley had no choice but to like jazz. Growing up as the daughter of Caleb Chapman, a well-known jazz educator and musician, music runs in Bryn’s family. And while her journey as a female saxophonist hasn’t been easy, Bryn is determined to inspire a new generation of female musicians as she serenades the world with her love for funk and romantic jazz ballads.

Bryn started playing saxophone at age 12. “One day, my dad just called down the stairs to my room in the basement,” Bryn said. “He was like, do you want to play the saxophone?” And she agreed to learn, even if she didn’t really want to. “I never would have chosen this for myself,” Bryn joked. But she dove into it, determined to fulfill the Chapman legacy. “I was like, it is decided that I’m going to play saxophone, so I’m going to be really f-ing good at it.”

Despite her grudging introduction to the saxophone, it didn’t take long for her to develop a deep love for the instrument. Bryn’s father runs Caleb Chapman’s Soundhouse in Pleasant Grove, Utah. As she learned the saxophone in her dad’s studio, surrounded by friends, Bryn quickly fell in love with the saxophone. “I remember, the summer after eighth grade, I started practicing like two hours every day,” Bryn recalled. “It kind of just amped up from there to three, then four.” As a part of both the Crescent Super Band and Osmond Chapman Orchestra, Bryn had the chance to perform globally as lead alto.

As a female saxophonist, Bryn found herself in a male-dominated space, often the only woman in her bands. Despite being extremely talented, she’s faced sexism time and time again, especially during college. At BYU, she’s pursuing a commercial music degree under the Jazz Studies track. “I genuinely almost quit saxophone after my sophomore year,” she said, reflecting on her time in a BYU band. Instead, she left the toxic behavior of her male bandmates behind and has been thriving ever since, leaving behind the suffocating negative space as she’s pursued her own career.

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Nowadays, Bryn plays with several groups, including her husband’s band, c a n d i d !, and as a saxophonist for singer Paige Fish. She’s especially seeing success on social media. With several of her TikTok videos surpassing a million views, her saxophone playing is now heard by people across the globe. “I think the biggest thing I want to do with my platform is just inspiring other girls to play saxophone,” Bryn said. She’s recognized the lack of female representation in the jazz world and said that she’d love to be a role model for other girls.

Bryn’s work as an educator is integral to her mission to empower female saxophonists. She’s been running her own saxophone studio since she was fifteen and teaches around twenty students. She tells all her students—especially her female students—that they’ve got this: “Even if you have men around you that kind of feel like they’re pushing you down… you can be even better than them if you want to.” After she and her husband graduate, they’re planning to move to LA to continue to pursue their dreams. “I’m going to be really, really sad to say bye to [my students],” Bryn said.

Along with releasing an EP for her capstone project this fall, Bryn hopes to tour with major artists and play saxophone alongside some of the best in the industry. “I think it would be so cool to go on tour with an all-girl band,” Bryn said. “Beyoncé has an all-girl band. The 1975, their sax player is so good too,” she said. She also wants to reach more people on social media. But while she has big plans, she has also already had some pretty hallmark moments already in her music career.

Bryn mentioned playing for the Utah Jazz as a major milestone, a full-circle moment given the fact that her dad has played at the same event. Another proud moment was when she opened for Earth, Wind & Fire alongside her dad and brother. When she competed with BYU band Synthesis at the Lincoln Center, she won the Outstanding Alto Saxophonist Award at the collegiate version of Essentially Ellington. Her name is also right there next to her dad as an endorser for Jody Jazz, a big achievement for any saxophonist, especially someone as young as twenty-three-year-old Bryn.

But overall, Bryn’s greatest joy comes from the messages she receives from girls who have picked up the saxophone or kept playing because of her. “That’s meant the world to me,” Bryn said. Although she doesn’t plan to continue teaching saxophone when she moves to LA, Bryn hopes to continue to be an empowering influence for girls as her social media presence continues to grow. She hopes to be part of shaping a future where more women can step into jazz and make their mark. “I think that any girl can do this,” Bryn said. “It takes a lot of work, but anybody can, really, especially women.”

 Make sure to follow Bryn Ripley on Instagram. You can listen to, “Ugh, So Good!” a song she played sax on for c a n d i d ! below!