When I was asked to write about the recent horn activity in Alabama, I thought, “Sure! Absolutely!” Then I paused for a moment and thought some more: “What am I going to write about?! Literally nothing has happened or is happening!” Then this little streamer in my mind started taking off, scrolling nonstop, with many of my to-do list reminders for the upcoming week, “this student needs to record Mozart, that one needs to send in their competition video, she needs a letter of recommendation, oh - midterms are coming up, oops - I need to make sure I remembered to upload that pdf for theory, contact this person about coming to studio next month, don’t forget to listen to those recordings, and you need to make your handout for your presentation Tuesday…”
It quickly dawned on me that even though most performances aren’t happening yet, a lot of activity WAS still happening. I began to think about how my teaching has changed during the year, and all of the creative ways teachers everywhere have been handling the pandemic…in whatever virtual, hybrid, or bell-covered reality we are currently in.
Deciding to focus this segment on teaching seemed obvious when I thought about the past year. Reflecting back to exactly one year ago this week, one of the things I am most grateful for is the generosity and collaborative effort of so many wonderful people. As schools shut down, concerts and trips were cancelled, the panic that some of us initially felt about the looming pandemic in general suddenly multiplied. It shifted to overwhelming chaos as we realized that we would need to QUICKLY (within a week) figure out a way to adapt, plunging head first into the virtual world…not just for one class, but with everything.
Many companies quickly began to offer free subscriptions for students and teachers to their virtual content for history, theory and aural skills courses. Groups were quickly popping up on social media where educators would brainstorm and everyone would generously create and share resources with each other.
Horn Hangouts with Sarah Willis became a part of many of our daily schedules (thank you, Sarah!!). These were not only just a fun addition to our afternoons, many of them were incredibly informative and gave us so many ideas and topics to discuss in our Zoom lessons. My students don’t know this (shh!), but seeing their interactions in the live chat was also a great way for me to check up on them since I was no longer seeing them at school every day!
Another thing I have been reflecting on is the heightened creative spirit that has been truly inspiring. As I’ve been connecting with university professors around not only the state, but the country, I have seen so many innovative solutions to our current reality.
One of the great benefits we have here in Alabama is that during the school year, the weather is beautiful (with the exception of an occasional hurricane day). On most days, students can practice outside, lessons can be taught outside, and ensembles can rehearse outside. We have all been taking advantage of our beautiful weather. (Having grown up in Wisconsin, the concept of going outside for a lesson in December is still fascinating to me!)
At Auburn University in Auburn, AL, the faculty have recorded two showcase concerts for students that were streamed online. Bill Schaffer and the Auburn brass faculty are currently preparing to host a virtual solo clinic for students where high school students can register, work with the professors, and receive feedback on their solo performances.
Due to indoor rehearsal restrictions, the AU horn ensemble has had outdoor rehearsals and socially distanced outdoor gatherings. The Auburn community orchestra has also had outdoor performances during the year. Recently the AU horn ensemble has been giving back to the community by performing for the Empty Bowls charity event held at Kiesel Park, which benefits the Food Bank of East Alabama.
At the University of South Alabama in Mobile, the campus was in hybrid mode for the fall semester. Jason Rinehart’s horn students would meet for lessons in-person once a month, and then the other three weeks over Zoom. So far this spring, lessons have been in-person. During the fall, the bands studied full wind band literature, but rehearsed in sectionals, with occasional outdoor full-band rehearsals. Their concert was recorded outside in front of the music building on campus and live-streamed. This spring, large ensembles have been broken into chamber ensembles who performed a concert on March 4. Horn choir has started to meet again, indoors and as safely as possible – meaning 6-foot spacing between players, bell covers on the horns, and with a time limit of 40-minutes in the room.
At the University of North Alabama in Florence, David McCullough reported that the pandemic hit his studio particularly hard. The student horn quartet was set to attend and compete at the 2020 Southeast Horn Workshop. After the workshop was cancelled, more cancellations followed, including a performance of the Hübler Konzertstück for Horn Quartet.
Currently, a younger quartet is now rehearsing for a performance at an upcoming brass ensemble concert. Last semester students who play in the Shoals Symphony Orchestra (the UNA orchestra), performed chamber works by Karen Gorton, Alexander Artunian, and Gwyneth Walker. The faculty woodwind quintet performed Malcolm Arnold’s Sea Chanties and the brass quintet performed Scott Joplin: Portrait in Brass.
Another large even that is currently underway is the annual live movie concert with the Shoals Symphony Orchestra performing Raiders of the Lost Ark. The movie concerts have been a highly anticipated annual event since 2016, and they are very motivating for the UNA horn students!
In my studio at Alabama State University in Montgomery, we were entirely online during the fall semester and mostly online (some classes hybrid) this spring. The music faculty presented a virtual showcase concert, including my performance of Margaret Brouwer’s SCHerZOid. We have been hosting guests on Zoom for studio classes, and having a wonderful time learning about everything from natural horn playing to didgeridoos, and everything in between! The students have also had a virtual guest lecture series in their performance class, focusing on diversity and equity in the arts with a variety of speakers, ranging from alumni, faculty, and artists from Lincoln Center Jazz, the Longy School of Music, Indiana University, and the Pershing’s Own Army Chorus.
Two of the ASU horn students, Wanja Ng’ang’a and Vitalis Wagome, are international students from Nairobi, Kenya. Since they could not travel home last summer or during the holidays, they have been living in the campus dorms since August 2019. They have made the most out of their situation, attending many of the virtual events that have been held, including the live Horn Hangouts, IHS 52, the online Kendall Betts Horn Camp, the Florida French Horn Festival, and the upcoming Southeast Horn Workshop. Being isolated in the dorms had its advantages though, in terms of being able to practice in their rooms early in the morning and late at night! They have also met for virtual lessons twice a week during school breaks. In addition, they have been participating in a variety of virtual ensemble recordings with K-NYO, the National Youth Orchestra of Kenya.
The students at Huntingdon College, also in Montgomery, meet for in-person lessons outside under a large tent, which was strategically placed under a giant pecan tree! The students had outdoor rehearsals in the fall using bell covers and masks, and performed an outdoor band concert which was live-streamed. This spring the concert band is meeting indoors, while maintaining social distancing and using bell covers. They join the ASU horns for horn studio via Zoom, and are also planning to attend the Southeast Horn Workshop.
Skip Snead and the University of Alabama horns in Tuscaloosa have also had many positive experiences during the past year. Over the summer they instituted a weekly horn studio meeting where they invited distinguished guests from around the world to address the horn studio about a variety of topics. It was highly beneficial, a lot of fun, and it was great to engage with one another at least once a week and learn from great presenters.
Beginning in the fall semester 2020, they have held applied lessons in a face-to-face format in larger spaces with significant distancing. The lessons were limited to 30 minutes, but afforded the studio the opportunity to remain engaged and continue to encourage and realize a substantial amount of student improvement. As a result of the timing, each student took a minimum of two lessons per week.
They also instituted horn studio class every weekday morning at 7:00am. This was enthusiastically received by the horn students and it was set up in a format where all freshmen would attend one morning, all sophomores on another morning, all juniors on another morning, and seniors on another, and the entire studio would come together on the remaining day. The graduate students floated amongst the various sessions. As the meeting pattern evolved, more and more students were attending multiple sessions every week (beyond their own scheduled times) because they were getting so much out of the masterclass opportunities each morning.
In the spring semester, the UA horn studio has also resumed horn ensemble rehearsals with groups currently limited to eight players. Their quartets are also functioning and each group is rehearsing once or twice a week for a maximum of 30 minutes each time. Horn History class is another new addition to the spring semester, where a variety of topics including history, design, and pedagogy are discussed.
The UA students have continued to work hard and be successful, winning many virtual competitions. These include Alex Franck and Joan Warner, 1st and 2nd place winners of the virtual solo competition at the 2020 Midsouth Horn Workshop, and Matt Meadows winning 1st prize in the national brass division of the MTNA Collegiate Artist Competition. Many UA horn students are currently preparing recordings and submissions for virtual workshop competitions for both the 2021 Northeast and Southeast Horn Workshops.
Skip Snead perfectly summed up what I think we all feel here in Alabama: “We look forward to returning to normal next year, but have learned from many successes experienced during the pandemic. We will undoubtedly carry many of these new approaches forward even when we return to a normalized environment.”
