by Julia Burtscher
My name is Julia Burtscher, and I am the Executive Director of the International Horn Society, a position I have held since January 2019. I was born and raised in Toledo, Ohio, USA, and I now live here again. I lived in Cincinnati for 14 years before my job took me for 10 years to Atlanta. In each of these cities, I have had many wonderful opportunities to play horn on an amateur level and to meet hornists who continue to be my friends.
My career has been with the North American railroad industry since 1999. I work for GE Transportation, and everything I do there revolves around proprietary software systems designed for shortline and regional railroads. These systems manage every aspect of operations, from railcar movement to communication with other railroads to capturing revenue and much more. I support our customers with the software, initiate implementation and training and troubleshooting and system testing while working internally to make sure our customers’ needs are addressed. For me, it’s all about the customers, and this translates directly into my role with the IHS as well.
Technically, I am a horn convert, having started on trumpet at age 10. I played trumpet for two years, then, as I transitioned to junior high school, I decided to switch to the horn because my two best friends played horn and I wanted to sit with them in band. Fortunately, my mom recognized that I should take lessons, and I was lucky to study with Mary Kihslinger at the University of Toledo. Ms. Kihslinger told me about the IHS, and she recommended I join, so I did. While I think I let my membership lapse for a period of time in my 20s, I have been a member for many years, and I always enjoy getting my issue of The Horn Call in the mail—and reading it cover to cover!
As Executive Director of the IHS, I view my role as “keeping the wheels on the bus and removing blockers.” Specifically, keeping the wheels on the bus is the administrative part—paying bills, working with our accountant for tax filing and financial reporting, scrubbing and sending mailing lists to the printers for The Horn Call mailing, facilitating the Advisory Council elections, preparing materials for Advisory Council meetings, and a great deal more. As for removing blockers, when ideas are discussed in Advisory Council and Executive Committee meetings, I assess available tools and resources in order to implement ideas and problem-solve, play devil’s advocate to see if there are any potential problems or considerations, and verbalize our mission, always to ensure that our activities serve our mission. No day is ever the same as the last, and this job keeps me on my toes. But I have loved both the work and meeting truly amazing people who make me better just by knowing them.
I have appreciated the IHS since I joined in my youth. I know that there is one place I can go for resources—like The Horn Call, where I’ve learned about books, music, and recordings that I have purchased—that I would not have found otherwise. Even as an amateur player with a career completely outside of music, I have felt welcomed to the horn world because of the IHS, and it has served as the connection to my first love—the horn.
