The Quarantine Stretch, Part 1
Solicited and Introduced by Mike Harcrow
This is assuredly one of the most bizarre seasons any of us has experienced. As one who is far closer to 60 than to 30 and who has performed in over forty countries on five continents—including a long stint in Seoul in the Korean Symphony Orchestra—I recall nothing like this since my career began four decades ago. Perhaps not since World War II has performing around the world been thrown into such turmoil. Having lost well over US$10,000.00 from performance cancellations since March of this year myself, I at least have a university teaching job that pays our bills; but I realize perfectly—and with genuine empathy—that many others have suffered far greater losses because of the global pandemic. What is so encouraging through all of this, however, is the resourcefulness of friends and colleagues in stretching themselves to remain creative, to learn new skills to facilitate their creativity, and to proudly and expertly display these newly-acquired skills in inspiring projects (performed on balconies, in front yards, on YouTube, in social media outlets, etc.) while negotiating cancelled seasons, taking on other full- or part-time jobs, home-schooling children, watching savings disappear, and enduring a great host of other challenges.
While I know there are so many of you doing this very thing, I asked a few of our wonderful colleagues who are in some way reinventing themselves to share their thoughts and experiences by responding to any or all of the following prompts:
• How are you diversifying or bolstering your musical skill sets for the future due to current orchestra closures and performance cancellations?
• What secondary skills are you honing or exploiting?
• Have you taken on another job to maintain an income? If so, what?
• What hobbies or new interests—music-related or not—are generating income for you?
I am grateful to each of our contributors for giving us a little insight into their personal struggles and victories. Let us continue to learn from, inspire, and encourage one another.
Peace and health to you all, dear friends!
Linnie Hostetler
Linnie Hostetler grew up on a family farm in the dairy lands of rural western Pennsylvania. She is a graduate of Messiah University and the University of Nevada—Las Vegas, and she is currently Principal Horn in the Lviv National Philharmonic Orchestra in Lviv, Ukraine.
Bradley Tatum
Dr. Bradley Tatum is a natural and Baroque horn specialist and educator active around the Washington, DC area. Among other ensembles, he is Principal Baroque Hornist with the Washington Bach Consort.
Ellie Jenkins
Since the pandemic shut down almost all live music performances in March, I eventually found myself struggling with reasons to pick up the horn each day. Fortunately, just as I was starting to lose momentum, Anneke Scott offered an opportunity to study natural horn with her for ten weeks. I’d had a natural horn hanging on my wall, largely gathering dust, for several years, and this seemed the perfect opportunity to really learn to play it. “If not now, when?” I said to myself. It has turned out to be a wonderful experience. I’ve learned a tremendous amount, and on many days it has been a much-needed distraction from the real world. There’s no autopilot for me when playing (attempting to play) natural horn. I’m forced to stay focused on exactly what I’m trying to do, and that means I can’t worry about ramifications of the pandemic or anything else. I just have to play horn. It’s difficult, but it’s also very Zen.
My husband and I also started a farm this spring, Hissing Possum Farm, using organic methods and as little petroleum as possible. The farm was already in the works, but the shutdowns meant that we both had more time available to get things rolling. We started making contact-free deliveries in April, and joined a small farmers’ market a few weeks later. We’ve had great response, and it’s very rewarding to hear from customers how much they’ve appreciated the deliveries of fresh vegetables at a time when most don’t want to spend much time in grocery stores. With all credit to my husband Eric, who has planned every step of this, our first season has been a great success, and we’re looking forward to many more.
While I would never have wished for this year, I’ll forever be thankful for the things I’ve been able to do because I suddenly had more unstructured time than ever before.
Ellie Jenkins is Associate Professor of Music, Dalton State College; Artist Affiliate, Berry College; and Principal horn, Carroll Symphony Orchestra
Thomas Jöstlein
I am Thomas Jöstlein, associate Principal Horn of the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra (SLSO). When the pandemic started in mid-March, cutting the SLSO season during the Berlioz "Faust" week, I was determined to keep playing.
Starting with alphorn calls each night, gradually adding our sons on cello and violin, and of course my wife Tricia (frequent SLSO sub) on horn, keep playing we did.
With that first show on March 18, and ending on Monday, Oct. 5, our family presented 173 free concerts for our neighbors and friends, unrehearsed (mostly), unpaid (except for tips for the folk/jazz/bluegrass nights), but always with the highest artistry in mind.
We performed the Mozart Horn Quintet, Siegfried Idyll, Schönberg Verklärte Nacht, Beethoven Septet, the Moonlight music from Strauss' Capriccio (in my own arrangement for string septet and horn), and countless other masterworks.
I was proud of many things besides our persistence and excellence.
Variety: we had around 35-40 shows using SLSO musicians, about twice that using folk, bluegrass, jazz, and Irish musicians from The Focal Point (a local non profit venue), about 25 concerts using area students, 15 using my horn choir, and a few storytelling and Beatles nights to round it out.
Our series inspired others to host shows, notably SLSO chorus director Amy Kaiser (a friend of the MO History director), a few other SLSO players and many across the USA.
I was proud of our wide appeal: the series was featured both on STL Public Radio's Sarah Fenske show ("St Louis on the Air"), and several articles in the Post-Dispatch, as well as on the NY Times website.
I was equally proud of our safety record. Early on, based on calls to virologists, we realized that outdoor transmission of the virus when (mostly) masked and distanced is near impossible. Not a single Covid case was linked to our series.
Above all, we kept the fragile nature of music alive in this desperate time, providing solace and joy for neighbors from near and far.
I encourage all horn players to start such regular series in their neighborhoods in the Spring. You'll be amazed at what you gain in return!
Membership Drive
There’s SNOW-place like the IHS for the holidays! Help us bring life to this snow person, as we’ll be adding more personality for every NEW Horn Society membership we receive from now until Dec 31! JOIN NOW or give a GIFT Membership.
Patrick Hughes Introduction
Patrick Hughes introduces changes to the IHS Scholarship and Awards program for 2021
Japan Horn Sound
Japan Horn Sound plays "Jupiter" from The Planets by Gustav Holst. Video produced by Nobuaki Fukukawa, featuring all members of Japan Horn Sound
Japan Horn Sound - "Jupiter" from The Planets
Japan Horn Sound plays "Jupiter" from The Planets by Gustav Holst. Video produced by Nobuaki Fukukawa, featuring all members of Japan Horn Sound
Coronahorns: conectando o mundo da trompa na América Latina
Por Gabriella Ibarra
Enquanto o mundo enfrentava o ataque da pandemia, as artes também procuravam maneiras de sobreviver, de se expressar e de conectar. A música não foi exceção e também continua a experimentar este fenômeno de busca incessante para se conectar apesar do isolamento. Foi assim que as distâncias foram encurtadas mais do que nunca e, em todas as latitudes, vontades ao redor do mundo se uniram para criar o que nunca poderíamos imaginar.
No Brasil, dois membros e colegas de naipe da OSPA (Orquestra Sinfônica de Porto Alegre) - Israel Oliveira e Nadabe Tomás - sentiram a preocupação de enfrentar a destruição que a Covid19 estava causando em colegas e alunos e que também afetou o dia-a-dia do seu trabalho docente. Eles estavam determinados contra todas as probabilidades a manterem as atividades com seus alunos, mas agora virtualmente. Quase imediatamente essa ideia cresceu e, em menos de um mês, tomou forma a partir das sugestões e colaborações de outros professores brasileiros que aderiram ao projeto, como foi o caso de Marcelo Das Virgens, Radegundis Tavares e Evandro Neves. A existência de uma comunidade organizada, muito entusiasmada e com imensa vontade de compartilhar conhecimento já era uma realidade. Rapidamente, o trabalho é intensificado e diversificado com seis reuniões semanais incluindo todas as atividades em nossas redes sociais. Para cumprir integralmente todas as tarefas, foi necessário expandirmos a equipe e nos organizarmos para que os novos membros assumissem responsabilidades no trabalho; elas seriam Gabriella Ibarra, Verónica Guardia, Gleice Viana e Paula Guimarães.
Quem poderia imaginar que as reuniões virtuais poderiam parecer tão reais, tão humanas e tão calorosas? Cada uma das entrevistas foi cheia de emoções e aprendizados através de cada história, de cada experiência e história de vida - e em muitos casos elas têm sido surpreendentemente elucidantes! Muitos momentos tocaram nossa alma, mas acima de tudo é admirável testemunhar como cada convidado mostrou sua verdadeira paixão pela música e pelo instrumento! Também conseguimos imprimir a alegria colorida e única que nos identifica calorosamente em cada encontro, para que de alguma forma pudéssemos dizer que nos sentíamos em casa, e essa tem sido uma imagem agradável que a maioria dos nossos convidados adquiriram em suas memórias.
A espontaneidade e as ocorrências também fazem parte da "centelha" que mantém nosso ambiente trompístico com um toque latino, independentemente das barreiras linguísticas! Um exemplo disso foi a rápida adaptação do público ao "portunhol".
Desde o início, contamos com a participação de vários convidados, todos dignos representantes do nosso amado instrumento na Alemanha, Itália, Portugal, Espanha, Estados Unidos, México, Argentina, Brasil, Chile, Venezuela, Uruguai, Peru, etc. Solistas, representantes do jazz, conjuntos, pedagogos, artistas online: todos - sem exceção! - nos honraram com sua presença, e como forma de agradecimento, nossas portas estarão sempre abertas para apoiá-los em seus projetos!
No Coronahorns, compartilhamos a mesma sensação de contribuir para nutrir e unir nossa comunidade e isso nos levou a criar o que foi o 1º Concurso Online Latino-americano para Trompistas Coronahorns e o Concurso de Composição Latino-americano para Trompa. Em ambas as propostas, obtivemos resultados maravilhosos, e vale ressaltar que sem o apoio essencial de nossos patrocinadores e professores, servindo gentilmente como jurados, tudo isso não teria sido possível.
De igual forma, fomos pioneiros na promoção do 1° Encontro Latino-Americano de Mulheres Trompistas. Quase uma centena de mulheres do Brasil, Venezuela, Chile, Argentina, Colômbia, Bolívia, Equador, Peru, Costa Rica, Guatemala, El Salvador, Paraguai, Panamá, Porto Rico, Espanha, EUA e Canadá se registraram.
O escopo e o trabalho que o Coronahorns expressou nas estatísticas alcançadas em apenas seis meses de existência inspiram agora o sonho de se conectar como uma comunidade latino-americana de trompistas; sonho que é finalmente realizado em um projeto que avança no sentido de continuar a crescer de forma consolidada e graças ao esforço do todo o mundo! Celebramos com imensa emoção e alegria tudo o que aconteceu e tudo o que foi conquistado com a certeza de continuar construindo o caminho para as futuras gerações de trompistas latinos com nossa transição para Latinoamericahorns!
Coronahorns: Connecting the horn world in Latin America
by Gabriella Ibarra
While the world faced these hard times of the pandemic, the arts also were in the search to keep alive, to keep their expressions ... to keep connected. Music was no the exception and it also continues experimenting this phenomenon of incessant search to connect despite being isolated. That is how distances were shortened more than ever and in all latitudes, wills around the world came together to create what we could never have imagined.
From Brazil, two horn players from OSPA -Israel Oliveira and Nadabé Tomás (horn section colleagues) - felt the necessity of dealing with the damage that Covid19 was causing on colleagues and students and which also had affected the daily routine of their teaching tasks. They were determined -against any obstacle- to keep their teaching activities with the students, even in a virtual mode. Almost immediately, this idea grew and in less than a month, it came true thanks to the suggestions and collaborations of other Brazilian teachers who joined the project, such as Marcelo Das Virgens, Radegundis Tavares and Evandro Neves. The existence of an organized and very enthusiastic community with an immense desire to share and to learn, was already a reality. Quickly, the work turned intensive and diversified with 6 meetings a week, including all the activities in our social networks. In order to successfully accomplish all the tasks, it was necessary to expand the team work with new members: Gabriella Ibarra, Verónica Guardia, Gleice Viana and Paula Guimaraes which took responsibility with the same devotion and commitment.
Who would imagine that virtual meetings could feel so real? so human? so warm? Each interview has been full of emotions and learnings through every talk, every experience and life story - which in many cases has been surprisingly meaningful! -... Many moments have touched our souls but most important of all it has been to witness how every guest has shown their genuine passion for music and for the instrument!
We have also been able to warmly print the colorful and unique joy that identifies us in each meeting, so in some way, we can say that we feel at home and that has been a pleasant image that most of our guests have taken in their memories. Spontaneity and occurrences have also been part of the "spark" that maintains our “horn atmosphere” with our Latin flavor regardless of language barriers! A clear example of this has been the quick adaptation of the audience with the “portunhol”.
From the beginning we have had the participation of many guests, all worthy representatives of our beloved instrument in Germany, Italy, Portugal, Spain, United States, Mexico, Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Venezuela, Uruguay, Peru ... soloists, jazz players, ensembles, teachers, online artists ... all of them -without exception!- have honored us with their presence and to express our gratitude our doors will remain open to support you in your projects! At Coronahorns we share that feeling of contributing to nurture and unite our community and that motivated us to create what was the 1st Online Latin American Horn Contest Coronahorns and the Latin American Horn Composition Contest. In both proposals we obtained wonderful results and it is necessary to mention the essential and kind support of our sponsors and the teachers who were judges, without them this would not have been possible. In the same way, we were pioneers in promoting the 1st Latin American Horn Women Meeting with almost a hundred participants from Brazil, Venezuela, Chile, Argentina, Colombia, Bolivia, Ecuador, Peru, Costa Rica, Guatemala, El Salvador, Paraguay, Panama, Puerto Rico, Spain, USA and Canada.
The reaching and work that Coronahorns has been expressed in the statistics achieved in just 6 months of existence. Now, the dream of connecting as a Latin American Horn community is finally realized in a project that is moving forward with a vision to continue growing in a consolidated project thanks to the efforts of everybody! Today, we celebrate with huge emotion and joy what has been lived and what has been achieved with the certainty of continuing to build the path for future generations of Latinamerican horn players with our transition to Latinoamericahorns!
