Interview of the Month – Tawnee Lynn Lillo
Kristina Mascher-Turner: Tawnee, you are a woman of many talents - it’s hard to know where to start! How about at the beginning? How did you come to play the horn in the first place, and how did you first start your career as a horn player?
Tawnee Lynn Lillo: If I could describe my unique prowess to the reader, it’s that I’m excited about everything. To some people, this must sound exhausting :) After dabbling in running, tennis, sports, piano, flute and some violin, the horn pretty much called my name in band one day in 8th grade. My family of 7 lived on 80 acres of land so that my father could have an airstrip to fly his planes to/from work. We “temporarily” (1988-2006) used a diesel-powered generator for electricity. Watching Independence Day with my family at home during generator hours was when I was first sold on the horn!! The student model F horn we all start out on came home with me, and I taught myself how to change the sound from a dying elephant to something more enjoyable that summer (I had a cockatoo at the time who would sit on the bell and bob his head up and down to my beats). As for my career, I feel I am smack dab in the middle of it as we speak and am doing everything I can to stay focused, alert, aware, happy, and smiling, helping and inspiring as many as I can along the way. After studying at the University of Arizona with Keith Johnson as well as at USC with legends Vince DeRosa and Richard Todd, I started playing small jobs around campus and the surrounding areas. From there, all kinds of adventurous opportunities arose. Every SINGLE person I started my Masters degree with at USC is playing at the highest level and mostly teaching at colleges/universities!
KMT: While at music school, we are often captivated by the idea of winning that big orchestra audition and settling into a stable routine (and salary). So often, destiny takes us in other directions. How important is it for us to keep our feelers out for alternate paths?
TLL: Being in that principal horn spot, especially (on any part) full time in a symphony is an accomplishment for the history books and really takes a badass individual. Preparing, staying focused, being a team player who works well in this setting, having the proper balance, etc. is something many dream of while some naturally have that talent/skill. With all kinds of talent in our industry, and with the whole entrepreneurial picture, now is definitely the time to learn, research, develop and incorporate other skills that allow our musical abilities to grow and expand. It’s pretty incredible getting the opportunity to do what I do as I’m sure most of you reading can relate to on some degree. Being surrounded by and getting to hang out with, make music, perform, laugh, and have deep/important conversations with such skilled colleagues, friends and mentors alike is an incredible gift. Having the opportunity to sub more with the San Diego Symphony has been a highlight, and preparing my student for the professional world has been a reminder of how well I was taught/guided!!
KMT: You first got into contracting through your association with an opera company - can you tell us about those early key moments?
Hazte cargo del negocio mientras persigues tus sueños
por Amy Thakurdas
Los músicos piensan que la parte del “negocio” de sus carreras es aburrida y tediosa. Este artículo es una muestra para ayudarles a alcanzar sus metas profesionales y personales. El presente artículo no está pensado para profesionales que ya estén viviendo sus sueños, sino para aquellos que están buscando activamente sus metas. Tengo la esperanza de que esto te permita identificar algunas áreas que necesites fortalecer en la búsqueda de tus sueños.
Creando un Portafolio Profesional
Muchos nuevos cornistas habrán seguido el camino tradicional para encontrar un trabajo tocando en una orquesta o dando clases. Con los espacios limitados que existen en ambos mundos ejecutando y enseñando, se recomienda tener un “Portafolio Profesional” actualizado al siglo XXI. Esto les permitirá tener diferentes trabajos relacionados con el corno y como resultado tendrán contacto con algunos de los mejores ejecutantes y profesores.
Mientras trabajaba con seis cornistas graduados, ellos tenían múltiples intereses y talentos que les permitían acceder a carreras en administración, manufactura, escritura histórica, mercadeo, arreglos musicales y recaudación de fondos. Los seis lograron colocarse en sus respectivas áreas de interés. Aunque no es la forma tradicional con la que todos los cornistas sueñan vivir, ellos se mantienen en la esfera del mundo del corno y disfrutan de haber conseguido la meta de sus primeros trabajos en un área deseada.
Estos nuevos profesionales se ganan la vida y hacen la diferencia en la comunidad del corno de muchas diversas maneras. Más adelante en el camino de la vida de seguro encontrarán trabajos enseñando, mientras tanto están haciendo una valiosa contribución al mundo del corno con sus múltiples talentos.
Pequeños pasos hacia la meta.
Toma pequeños pasos cada día hacia tus metas. Muy pronto cuando veas hacia atrás, verás lo mucho que has logrado. Solo recuerda tomar un paso cada día. Es muy fácil distraerse o procrastinar.
Agiliza tus rutinas hacia tus metas y no olvides revisar tu plan de vida como músico regularmente. Podrías crear un cronograma y poner un tiempo específico para lograr cada pequeño paso. O puedes apuntar a completar un paso cada día antes o después de tu tiempo de practica diario.
Reputación y oportunidades
Si donde vives existe abundante trabajo como músico independiente (freelance), entonces tu reputación como cornista puede ser establecida tocando en orquestas locales. Si por el otro lado existen muchos cornistas en tu ciudad, mantente tocando, las oportunidades aparecerán y son aprovechadas por los que estén listos.
Cubrir a alguien o ser maestro sustituto puede abrirte puertas que no están disponibles, es mejor que quedarte en casa sin hacer nada. El cambio constante puede ser un poco inquietante, sin embargo, es sabio permitirte modificar tu plan con respecto a cómo tus sueños y circunstancias de vida vayan cambiando.
No pongas límites a tus sueños
Tus metas musicales y pasos hacia estas metas pueden ser pequeños, grandes o inclusive cambiar. Si completas 6 metas en un año en 10 años serán 60 cosas que habrás logrado hacia tus sueños. Muy pronto veras que no hay límite.
Disfruta del viaje mientras llegas a tu destino
Mi mejor consejo es que disfrutes tu viaje, tanto personal como musical. No hay un tamaño que les calze a todos. Conocerte a ti mismo y diseñar un camino que mejor se adapte a ti (no seguir ciegamente los caminos de alguien más) será una muy gratificante forma de llegar a tu destino.
Espero que este artículo les haya dado algunas ideas para cultivar sus carreras como un músico completo mientras viven sus sueños. Que todos sean felices tocando corno.
Amy es una doctora de Medicina Naturista especializada en manejo del stress usando técnicas Mente/cuerpo. También es la directora musical de “Oxford Horns”.
Spanish translation: Juan Carlos Porras Castro
Taking care of business while pursing your dream
by Amy Thakurdas
en Español
Musicians find the ‘business’ side of their career dull and tedious. This article is a taster to help you achieve your musical and life goals. It is not aimed at the professional who is living their dream but rather those who are actively pursuing their goals. Hopefully, it will allow you to identify some areas you might need to strengthen while pursuing your dream.
Creating a Portfolio Career
Many newly qualified horn players will have followed traditional steps to find an orchestral placement or teaching position. With limited spaces in both the performance and academic worlds, a 21st century ‘portfolio career’ is advisable. This allows for work in horn related industries and results in direct exposure to some of the best horn players and teachers.
While I was working with six graduates, they had multiple horn related interests and talents which allowed them to pursue careers in management, manufacturing, historical writing, marketing, music arranging and fundraising. All six placed in their area of interest. Although it is not living the traditional professional horn player’s dream; they are within the sphere of the horn world and enjoying their chosen goal orientated first job.
These new graduates earn a living and make a difference to the horn community in multiple capacities. Down the road performance of teaching jobs will inevitably appear and in the meantime they will have made meaningful contributions to the horn world with their multi-talents.
Small steps towards your goals
Take small steps each day towards your career goals. Very soon when you look back, you can see you have achieved so much. Just remember to take the steps each day. It is easy to become distracted or procrastinate.
Streamline your routines toward your goals and don’t forget to review your life plan as a musician, regularly. Maybe create a timetable and carve out a specific time to accomplish each small step. Or aim to complete one step each day before or after your daily practise schedule.
Crowdfunding a CD
by Stefan Blonk
For a long time, recording a solo CD was on my bucket list. In my years as solo horn in the Gelders Orkest (Arnhem, Netherlands) I made many recordings of the large orchestra repertoire: Mahler 5 and 6, Tchaikovsky 5, and many others. Furthermore, I recorded the horn concerto by Mercadente with the Amsterdam Police Band for the Molenaar label. But a solo CD didn't come at that time, mostly because I didn't know where to start and which pieces to choose.
In 2013 I quit my job. It wasn't going well with my orchestra because of heavy budget cuts, and it wasn't going well with me. I wanted something different. I took a sabbatical, and through the medium of the Millereau natural horn I had purchased from Lowell Greer, I found my way back to the joy in music. Soon my calendar was full of natural horn engagements. I found myself playing with fantastic groups such as the Orchestra of the 18th Century, the Apollo Ensemble, Anima Eterna, and many others. I also got an expanded position with the conservatory in Zwolle and started another project I'd been thinking about for a long time. I wanted a company where enthusiastic natural horn players could find a good selection of historical instruments.
During a rehearsal of the Brahms Horn Trio (on natural horn), the violinist said to me, "We really should record this!" And thus my old wish emerged once again in all its enthusiasm! I thought it over, did some research on crowdfunding platforms, and calculated the minimum amount the whole thing would cost.
The pianist, Riko Fukuda, had access to a variety of magnificent historical pianos. Her husband is Edwin Beunk, owner of fortepiano.nl.
To make a CD these days is fairly simple, as long as you have the budget for it. I had to keep it as cheap as possible without sacrificing the quality I had in mind. For the crowdfunding, I set a realistic goal: 5000 EUR - not enough for everything, but definitely a good start. I simply wanted to try it and see if it worked. I did a lot of advertising on social media, especially on Facebook, and wrote several emails to friends, family, and acquaintances. When you are asking for money, you have to be ready for rejections; you'll receive a lot of them. But there were also surprises. A rich friend pledged a large sum, and through that, the crowdfunding was already a success in advance.
You're asking people to support a project before it's even started. As a reward, you promise a CD, a concert ticket, both, or whatever else you can dream up. Of course, you have to be able to deliver what you promise! On top of that, the project has to be interesting. In my particular case, I called the project "The Natural Horn in the 19th Century." I started with the Beethoven Sonata from 1800, then the Brahms trio, and at the end the Rossini Prelude, Theme, and Variations. This last piece hadn't been recorded very often on the natural horn.
Contact was made with a technician and recording engineer. Edwin Beunk made his space available and took care of the pianos (for each piece a different instrument!) Riko Fukuda and Frank Polman played for free; they were also keen to record the Brahms.
Meanwhile, I got in contact with the record label with whom the Apollo Ensemble also worked, Centaur Records. They were interested in hearing the recordings once they were finished. Afterwards, they approved the recording, and I sent the photos and text for the CD.
We had three days to record. That wasn't very much time. You have to bear in mind that before even one note is recorded, you will have already played a lot. I was in good shape and had prepared well, but at the end of each recording day I was exhausted, both physically and mentally. Recording is tiring work. The Beethoven and Rossini recordings went fairly rapidly. The Brahms is much more difficult to record. You need a lot of time and a sound engineer with super ears. In my case, I was short on time, and the sound engineer was sitting too close. That's something to learn from for next time!
A CD label doesn't pay you or invest anything in the project. The risk is too great for them - the classical CD market is saturated, and fewer and fewer people are buying CD's. Even at Centaur records, you have to take on at least 200 CD's at $6 apiece. On top of that, you have shipping costs and European customs fees. You should therefore be fairly sure you can sell so many CD's to justify the costs. In my case, I can sell them on my website, through a colleague, or at various instrument builders whom I visit frequently through my business. I play a lot of chamber music, so I can sell my CD's at concerts. On top of that, they count as promotional material and are therefore tax deductible. Through the purchase of an historical instrument, I can throw in a CD for free.
This is how I hope to make some of my investment back. The crowdfunding brought in 5000 Euro, and the crowdfunding platform cost me 600 Euro. Recording and taking 300 CD's cost an additional 2400 Euro. I was so lucky to have each and every person who helped out - otherwise the project would have been a lot more expensive.
Last week, we played the Rossini and Brahms alongside the violin sonata by Schumann. And the CD was lying there - I was happy and proud! August 4th is the official launch date from Centaur Records. Soon afterwards, it will be available on line.
If you're a horn player whose bucket list includes recording your own CD, I hope you've found something useful in this article. Go make it special!
You can hear Stefan’s virtuoso natural horn playing on YouTube
Translation: KMT
Crowdfunding een cd
by Stefan Blonk
English version
Al heel lang stond op mijn bucket-list om een solo cd op te nemen. In mijn jaren als solo hoornist van Het Gelders Orkest heb ik veel opnames gemaakt van grote orkestwerken. Mahler 5 en 6, Tsjaikovski 5 en vele anderen. Verder nam ik het hoornconcert van Mercadente op met de Amsterdamse politiekapel voor uitgeverij Molenaar. Maar van een "eigen" cd kwam het niet, ook omdat ik niet wist hoe het aan te pakken en welke stukken ik dan zou willen opnemen.
In 2013 zegde ik mijn baan op. Het ging niet goed met het orkest, door zware bezuinigingen, en het ging niet goed met mij. Ik wilde nog wat anders. Ik nam een sabatical en vond door het spelen op een Millereau natuurhoorn, die ik van Lowell Greer kocht, het plezier terug in de muziek. Al gauw werd mijn agenda voller met natuurhoorn werkzaamheden. Spelen met geweldige groepen als het Orkest vd Achttiende Eeuw, Apollo ensemble, Anima Eterna en vele anderen. Ook kreeg ik een ruimere aanstelling bij het conservatorium van Zwolle én ik begon een ander project waar ik al heel lang over dacht. Ik wilde een bedrijf waar enthousiaste natuurhoornisten keus zouden vinden in historische instrumenten.
Tijdens een repetitie van Brahms hoorntrio (op natuurhoorn) zei de violist: we zouden het eigenlijk moeten opnemen! En toen kwam mijn oude wens in al zijn enthousiasme weer te voorschijn! Ik dacht er over, deed wat onderzoek naar crowdfundingplatforms en berekende hoeveel het allemaal minimaal ging kosten.
De pianiste, Riko Fukuda, heeft de beschikking over verschillende, prachtige, historische vleugels. Haar man is Edwin Beunk, eigenaar van fortepiano.nl.
Een cd maken is tegenwoordig heel makkelijk, als je maar budget hebt. Ik moest het zo goedkoop mogelijk houden, zonder de kwaliteit te verliezen die ik voor ogen had.
The Birth of a YouTube Channel
By Steve Park
Some of the most amazing things that happen in your life come as a total surprise. That is exactly what the success of my YouTube channel has been. As of this writing, I have over 5500 subscribers and almost 2 million views! I have received emails and other correspondence from all over the world.
As a horn player, I am a late-bloomer. I graduated with a Music Education degree in 1980, and, although I was always first chair and had a full-tuition music scholarship, I had no desires to play professionally. In fact, after college, I put down my horn completely and worked in the financial services industry for almost 10 years. I was lured back into the music world through an invitation to play horn in a pit orchestra for a church production of “The Sound of Music”. (A serendipitous event!)
Soon after, I left the world of high finance to becomes a public-school band director and community orchestra horn player. The first midi accompaniment I made was of the first movement of the Hindemith Horn Sonata to help a student prepare for a school district “Solo & Ensemble” festival. This proved to be very helpful for her and she received superior ratings at both the district and later, the state level. This lead to the making of additional accompaniments for myself and my students.
In 2000, I decided to make a CD of some of my favorite music for family and friends. Some of the pieces are a part of the horn literature, like Ravel’s Pavane or Franz Strauss’ Nocturno. But many of the pieces were arrangements of church hymns and Christmas choir music. I called the CD “Love Songs and Lullabies”. It was very well received. Several people told me it was their favorite CD. Others asked me if they could buy copies to give to their friends. (If you are interested in a copy of the CD, send an email to stevehornguru@yahoo.com)
The making of this CD improved my playing dramatically! I discovered, for example, that as I held a long note and got softer, I would go slightly flat right before the release. Recording gave me an opportunity to listen in a very critical way to how I sounded and to work to perfect my playing.
Low Horn - Just 3 Things
Jeff Nelsen talks about low horn playing. Click to play the video.
The Technician – Process – How
The Person – Purpose – Why
The Musician – Product – What
In this video “Low Horn – Just 3 Things” Jeff gives you three ideas for each of the above factors of performance. He’s sharing general concepts and approaches to them, through which some discoveries and growth can be found. Experiment freely with these concepts, and contact Jeff through email anytime with your questions. Download the accompanying PDF here.
