Zoom Teaching
by Marlene Ford
Teaching horn lessons via Zoom is a lot different.
Teaching horn lessons via Zoom is no different.
Many college and private horn teachers are seeing their students through some sort of online applications during this Coronavirus pandemic. It took me awhile, but Zoom turned out to be as easy as Tune-A-Day.
Once I was up and running, my students all showed up at their regular lesson times. With so much out of our control, this small routine of regular lesson times was comforting. What wasn’t routine, they missed. Driving to lessons, unpacking the horn and music, warming up and playing in front of the real me was a ritual missed.
The basic music work was pretty much the same: scales, etudes, solos, orchestral excerpts. I listen; they listen. I comment; they comment. Learning happens—sometimes because of me, sometimes despite me. Nothing changed there. I hadn’t considered that I could video record their lessons through Zoom. That was a boon for us all. On the flip side, we just couldn’t play together. No duets. There was the time delay and there was often distortion. Also, it didn’t make much sense to discuss sound quality as low notes sounded like barking dogs and high notes just disappeared.
Ah, what would horn playing be without a few laughs. Cherubini Sonata #1 is now played by the horns with an Italian villa background, one regularly has a gorilla as stand partner, and I’ve had the pleasure of my pedagogy being questioned by a student’s Google home device.
As we go into our third week at Zoom U., we are planning a studio class. If there are no recitals this semester, we can still play for each other. That will be a little different, but not totally different.
Solidarietà attraverso la musica - The Sicilian Horn Ensemble e altre iniziative
English version
Salve a tutti, sono Angelo Bonaccorso docente di corno presso il Conservatorio V.Bellini di Catania e III Corno presso l’Orchestra del Teatro Massimo V.Bellini di Catania e rappresentante italiano IHS. La situazione qui in Italia a causa della pandemia è davvero difficile, abbiamo ancora molti decessi al giorno e il Governo ci ha giustamente ordinato di rimanere a casa. Speriamo che possa finire presto perché stanno soffrendo tante famiglie che hanno perso i loro cari e molti medici e infermieri oltre a perdere la loro vita si stanno sacrificando giornalmente per aiutare il prossimo.
Il lato positivo di questa quarantena (oltre a trascorrere più tempo con le nostre famiglie e soprattutto i nostri figli) è che sta sviluppando in noi più stimoli allo studio e alla creatività. Giornalmente sui social vediamo tantissimi video da parte di musicisti, cantanti, atleti, cuochi, ecc…. ognuno da un contributo per offrire qualcosa al prossimo, un segno di amicizia a distanza.
Tra queste iniziative, con il mio Sicilian Horn Ensemble, siamo stati tra i primi a pubblicare un nostro video montaggio (fatto dal nostro componente Salvo Visalli) in cui suoniamo a distanza un arrangiamento della colonna sonora di Jurassic Park. I componenti del gruppo: Bonaccorso Angelo, Manuele Catalano, Sebastian Mulè, Fabio Chillemi, Matteo Leone, Salvo Visalli, Daniele L'Abbate, Lorenzo Scolaro, Riccardo De Giorgi, Luca Grasso,Emanuele Giunta e Chiara Zito
Galápagos
Performed by Giovanni Hofer
GALÁPAGOS, for Horn and accompaniment by Dante Yenque
Performed by Giovanni Hofer
Dante Yenque, principal horn in the National Symphony Orchestra of Colombia, has composed this piece as a dedication to all the musicians who are currently isolated and cut off from their work due to the worldwide health situation. This piece is named after the source of his inspiration: the Galapagos Islands, where a great variety of unique fauna and flora live in a space where the species coexist in the absence of fear; reminding us of a planet Earth very different from the one on which we now live. There, the sea lions, the dolphins, the turtles, the seahorses, the pelicans and even the sharks are within easy reach. They do not shy away from anyone nearby. Iguanas clump together on the trails, giant sea turtles swim alongside snorkellers, and blue-footed boobies woo each other in the presence of visitors. All this is what characterizes Galapagos and what makes it a unique place in the world, from which we can learn. Galapagos is, without a doubt, a message of hope and union, a message that invites you to live in harmony. Many different horn players have recorded videos featuring this song, among them Giovanni Hoffer and Jens Plücker .
GALÁPAGOS, para trompa y acompañamiento de Dante Yenque
Interpretado por Giovanni Hofer
Dante Yenque, Principal de cornos de la Orquesta Sinfónica Nacional de Colombia, ha compuesto esta pieza como dedicatoria a todos los músicos que se encuentran en este momento, aislados y apartados de su labor debido a la situación de salubridad que se vive a nivel mundial.
Esta obra del maestro Yenque, lleva por nombre la fuente de su inspiración: las Islas Galápagos, ubicadas en inmediaciones del Océano Pacífico, donde habita una gran variedad de fauna y flora, muchas de ellas exclusivas, un espacio en el que impera la ausencia del miedo en la convivencia entre las especies; recordando de esta forma a un planeta Tierra muy diferente al que vivimos ahora. Allí, los leones marinos, los delfines, las tortugas, los caballitos de mar, los pelícanos e incluso los tiburones están al alcance de la mano, no rehúyen la cercanía. Las iguanas se agrupan en los caminos, las tortugas gigantes marinas nadan junto a las personas que practican snorkel y los piqueros de patas azules, se cortejan en presencia de los visitantes. Todo esto, es lo que caracteriza a Galápagos y lo que lo convierte en un lugar único en el mundo, del cual podemos aprender.
Galápagos, es sin duda, un mensaje de esperanza y unión, un mensaje que invita a vivir en armonía.
à quatre, tout seul
by Alexandre Collard
Pour cette video de Chostakovich et l'autre où je joue un quatuor d'Ilan Rechtman, les fameuses videos de l'appli Acapella m'ont été une belle source d'inspiration ! Je voulais faire du quatuor de cor pendant le confinement, avec mon très cher pupitre de l'Orchestre National de Lille, mais aussi tout seul, pour être obligé d'assurer le grave et l'aigu ! J'ai donc choisi un quatuor assez difficile, avec un grand ambitus : un jazzical de Rechtman. Je me suis vite rendu compte que le projet était trop ambitieux pour filmer chaque partie d'une traite rapidement (trop de contre Mi bémol, trop de notes, trop vite), j'ai donc décidé de me concentrer sur le son dans un premier temps, grace à GarageBand, le logiciel gratuit sur apple. Quand le résultat m'a plu suffisamment j'ai voulu en faire une vidéo, dehors dans le jardin, et j'ai découvert que l'autre logiciel mac iMovie me permettrait assez facilement d'apparaitre plusieurs fois à l'écran, parfait pour la situation ! Il ne me suffisait plus que de poser un bon appareil photo, et sans le toucher, jouer les quatre parties du quatuor à quatre endroits différents. Je ne m'attendais pas à ce que jouer en playback soit si difficile...! Puis j'ai suivi le HornQuartetChallenge de Bruce qui a d'abord sondé ses contacts cornistes sur le répertoire qui remporterait le plus de succès en arrangement pour quatuor de cors, et a ensuite offert librement le scherzo de la 10è de Chosta, nouveau défi parfait pour moi ! Je connaissais déjà les logiciels, je n'avais plus qu'à trouver une autre idée de scénario. Mon temps libre était principalement la nuit, après le coucher des enfants, et ce préau m'offrait un decor suffisamment effrayant pour coller à l'intensité et la gravité du mouvement. Une lampe solitaire, quelques bougies, un regard fixe camera avant et après avoir joué, j'avais l'ambiance qu'il me fallait. L'effet fantôme est une consequence fortuite de ma mauvaise utilisation d'iMovie pour me faire figurer quatre fois en meme temps ! L'ubiquité ne peut apparement pas sembler si réelle...
By Myself, Times Four
by Alexandre Collard
For this video of Shostakovich, and the other one where I play a quartet from Ilan Rechtman, I got inspired by all the Acapella videos. I wanted to play horn quartet during my load of free time this month, and not only with my dear section from the Orchestre National de Lille, but also on my own, having to perform in the extreme low as well as extreme high register. I chose the very demanding jazz quartet from Rechtman. I quickly figured out that I would not be able to play through perfectly soon enough (going to high E flat a few times, and everything so fast !) so I decided to record only the sound first, and allowed myself some editing with Apple's free software, GarageBand. When I was satisfied with the result, I wanted to make a video out of it, outside in the garden. I found out that iMovie could make me appear more than once on the screen; how happy I was !! I just had to play the four parts in four different positions after I placed a good camera and never touched it until the end. Playback was way more difficult than I thought! Then Bruce Richards started his HornQuartetChallenge, asking first which repertoire would please the most people and then offering an arrangement of the tricky scherzo from Shostakovitch 10 for volunteers to record it. What an opportunity for me, more challenge !!! Same software, same technique, I had to find a new screenplay though. Most of my free time was at night when the children were asleep, and that porch was scary enough for my set to match the intensity and the seriousness of the movement. A single light, some candles, a fixed gaze before and after playing, and I had the perfect mood. The ghostly effect comes from my bad use of iMovie to make me appear four times ! Ubiquity can't seem too real apparently...
Alexandre Collard was First Prize winner at the Prague Spring International Music Competition in 2018 - along with the prize for best interpretation of the contemporary piece, the International Horn Society Prize, the Radio Free Europe Prize and a further nine awards, Second Prize winner at the Città di Porcia International Competition in 2013 and laureate of the Autumn Music Festival Competition (FMAJI) in 2011, Alexandre Collard has been among the elite musicians of his generation since his studies, first with Guy Mouy in Douai and then with André Cazalet at the Paris Conservatory.
A lover of the great symphonic repertory, Alexandre joined the Lille National Orchestra as solo horn at the age of 21, and has also played with the London Symphony Orchestra, the Philharmonia Orchestra, the Philharmonique de Radio France and Dissonances, as well as performing solo concertos.
