Notes from Big Sky Country
I first joined the International Horn Society when I was a student in college. Receiving my first issue of The Horn Call was such an eye-opening experience, realizing how many other horn players there truly were in the world. I had heard of the IHS when studying with founder, Bill Robinson, in high school, but it was when I became a member that I suddenly understood what the IHS did for me and for all of us. It connects us to something greater, an entire community. When I came to Montana five years ago, I was surprised to find an already thriving community of hornists.
Now that I am the IHS Area Representative in Montana, I hope to build and strengthen that community of hornists, of which many of you are probably unaware. We are a state with seven regional orchestras, highly skilled performers, and the perfect training grounds for our future orchestral and military band performers and music educators.
During the pandemic, our orchestras have continued to record concerts, without audiences, and publish them on MTPR, PBS, and YouTube amongst others. Our state universities have continued creating experiences through online masterclasses and competitions across the country. A sophomore student at the University of Montana won an intercollegiate mock audition competition against four other institutions nationally. The community band in Missoula gave concerts outdoors during summer 2020 to audiences blocked for contact tracing. In addition to teaching at UM, I presented at the IHS Virtual Workshop and worked with my colleagues of the Northwest Horn Society to start a podcast for our members in the region. A UM grad also serves on the board of the NwHS and recently moved to Washington state to finish her student teaching. These are just a few examples of what we are all doing in Montana.
In such a strange time when we have lost many opportunities to engage with others, our horn community has worked to educate and perform and, perhaps most importantly, remain relevant.
