As you consider the nominees listed below, please consider the duties and responsibilities of the position. The Advisory Council (AC) is responsible for carrying out the aims and purposes of the Society, determines the policies and budget allocations for IHS programs, and elects additional AC members. AC members work via e-mail, phone and fax throughout the year and attend annual meetings at the international workshop.

 Patrick Hughes is Associate Professor of horn at the University of Texas-Austin. He is a frequent soloist, appearing in recitals throughout the US and abroad, at regional horn conferences, and at the 2001 and 2005 IHS International Horn Symposia. He previously taught at the University of New Mexico from 1995-2001, where he played principal horn with the Santa Fe Symphony and Santa Fe Pro Musica Chamber Orchestra, and performed throughout the US and in China with the New Mexico Brass Quintet. He has held other teaching appointments at Ithaca College and SUNY Fredonia and has performed with a number of groups across the US including the Santa Fe, Minnesota, and San Antonio Operas; and the Austin, San Antonio, New Mexico, Duluth-Superior, and Cedar Rapids Symphonies. He currently serves the IHS on the Commissioning Committee. Patrick Hughes holds degrees from St. Olaf College and the University of Wisconsin-Madison. (Hughes has not previously served on the Advisory Council.)

Leighton Jones was born in the village of Felinfoel, in Carmarthenshire, West Wales. At Grammar School, he was told - "play the French horn." He immediately fell in love with the instrument and six months later was principal horn of The Carmarthenshire County Youth Orchestra. Six months following he was chosen to play for the National Youth Orchestra of Wales where he was solo horn for six years. At nineteen he was playing with the then BBC Orchestra of Wales. He won a scholarship to the Royal Academy in London where he studied with Keith Whitmore and Alan Civil. For family reasons he returned to West Wales and an active freelance career, performing with several chamber ensembles and orchestras in Wales and the United Kingdom, including The Royal Liverpool Philharmonic, City of Birmingham Symphony, National Symphony Orchestra, BBC National Orchestra of Wales, and the Orchestra of the Welsh National Opera. (Jones has not previously served on the Advisory Council.)

Susan McCullough, Instructor of Horn at Denver University’s Lamont School of Music, earned her Bachelor of Music degree from Emporia State University in 1975. She was principal horn and soloist with the Air Force Academy Band in Colorado Springs COfrom 1975-78, and spent 22 years with the Colorado Springs Symphony. She is currently principal horn with The Denver Brass, has been with the Aries Brass Quintet since 1996, and regularly performs with many of Colorado's ensembles, including the Colorado Symphony, the Colorado Ballet, and Opera Colorado. Susan McCullough has been a participating artist/soloist at many regional workshops as well as International Horn Symposia in South Africa and Switzerland in 2006-07. Susan was a featured artist for the National Horn Symposium held in Port Elizabeth, South Africa in June of 2007. Susan will host the 40th International Horn Symposium in July of 2008 in Denver. (McCullough has served one partial term on the Advisory Council: 2006-07.)

Jennifer Ratchford Sholtis is Associate Professor of Horn at Texas A&M University-Kingsville. She earned the BM and BA degrees in Performance and in German at The University of Arkansas, with one year at the Hochschule für Musik Detmold, Germany as an Elizabeth Fulbright Scholar. She earned the MFA and DMA degrees in Performance and Pedagogy from The University of Iowa. Dr. Sholtis is dedicated to developing her students’ skills through high studio standards and exposure to world-class players and teachers at regional and international IHS symposiums at which she also often serves as a clinician, performer, adjudicator, and conductor of the TAMUK Horn Ensemble. The symposiums’ performance and competition opportunities provide life-changing engagement activities which cultivate her students’ development as players and future horn teachers. Dr. Sholtis performs with regional orchestras, in the Kingsville Brass Quintet and Cecilia Circle, and solo recitals. Her teachers include Dr. Kristin Thelander, Michael Höltzel, Frøydis Wekre, and Dr. Timothy Thompson. (Sholtis has not previously served on the Advisory Council.)

Jonathan Stoneman offers: “During my first term on the AC I have worked hard, helping in particular with the update of the website; the recruitment of the new webmanager, and the AC sub-committee on how the Society could use its site. Within the AC I try to make helpful, creative, and constructive suggestions, and take on sub-committee jobs which match my experience in management in public (not-for-profit) service. As the AC also meets virtually, by e-mail, between symposiums, I always respond quickly to work, and to make useful contributions to the AC. I have recently been elected to the committee of the British Horn Society, and think it would be good to have someone with a view of more than one society on the AC. And now that I have learned about the workings of the IHS I am keen to make use of this knowledge by serving a second term.” (Stoneman has served one term on the Advisory Council: 2005-2008)
   
David B. Thompson is Solo Horn of the Barcelona Symphony Orchestra and Professor of Horn at the Escuela Superior de Música de Cataluña. He has also presented masterclasses around Europe and the United States, and served on the faculty of Aspen Music Festival. He earned MM and BM degrees with high honors as well as a Performer's Certificate from Indiana University. He won prizes at several competitions in Europe and the US, including the first prize of the American Horn Competition (1994). He is the president of Thompson Edition, Inc., specialized in the publication and worldwide distribution of music and accessories for horn. He also serves as moderator of the “Horn List” at yahoo, the largest internet horn forum with over 2300 participants on six continents. He is the author of two pedagogical texts in widespread use: The Orchestral Audition Repertoire for Horn: Comprehensive and Unabridged and Daily Warm-Up and Workout. (Thompson has served one term on the Advisory Council: 2005-2008)

IHS Life Member William VerMeulen enjoys an equally successful career as a soloist, chamber musician, orchestral principal horn, and master horn teacher. Professor of Horn at Rice University’s Shepherd School of Music and principal horn of the Houston Symphony, VerMeulen has dedicated his career to helping aspiring hornists worldwide. His students inhabit numerous major orchestras including, Boston, Cleveland, Los Angeles, Cincinnati, Israel, Dallas, and the New York Philharmonic. Among his many recordings are the complete Mozart Concerti with Christoph Eschenbach. He is a champion of new music with concerti written for him by Samuel Adler and Pierre Jalbert. He has appeared as a featured artist at five IHS workshops and conducts masterclasses worldwide. His enthusiasm for the IHS stems back to his days as a young hornist attending his first workshop and feels a genuine commitment to the future of the IHS and all it represents. (VerMeulen has not previously served on the Advisory Council.)

Geoffrey Winter has been active in the professional horn world for nearly 30 years. His instruction on horn has included studies with such famous horn players as Vince DeRosa, James Decker, Christopher Leuba, and Robert Bonnevie. His professional experience as a performer ranges from chamber music to large symphonic and operatic repertoire. His orchestral career began in 1980 playing Broadway shows in Seattle. His orchestral appointments then took him to Caracas, Venezuela, and then to Germany, with positions in the Philharmonia Hungarica and the Beethoven Orchestra of Bonn. He has held his current position as solo horn with the Beethoven Orchestra for the last 18 years. He has also won prizes as a soloist at international music competitions in Markneukirchen and Munich. As a member of the American Horn Quartet, he has performed, taught lessons and masterclasses during extensive tours to North America, Europe, Africa, the Far East. and Australia. (Winter has not previously served on the Advisory Council.)