Kyra Sims speaks to Lydia van Dreel
New York Freelance hornist and actor/writer/director, Kyra Sims, tells us about her life as a horn player and theater artist.
Before we learn about all the non-horn playing interesting things about you, tell us about your life as a horn player. Where did you grow up?
Germantown, TN, right outside of Memphis
When did you start playing horn/where did you study
I started playing horn at age 11, when I joined the 6th grade band at my middle school. I had already been taking piano lessons for several years so I could read music in both clefs, which gave me a leg up on learning horn. I didn’t start private lessons until I was in 9th grade though, so the first year or so of study was my teacher (Jill Wilson) helping me get rid of all my bad habits!
Who are some of your heroes as horn players? As artists? As people?
When I was studying with Jill, she had this beautiful dog, a malamute, whom she’d named Frøydis, after the Norwegian horn player Frøydis Ree Wekre. She told me a little about who Frøydis was, and soon after I found an album of hers at a band clinic. She is still to this day one of my favorite horn players to listen to. Other artistic heroes of mine include the actress Viola Davis, and Lizzo!
You have trained with the Upright Citizens Brigade, you do stand-up comedy, right? Do you also do theater? Other acting?
I did stand up for about a year or so, and I did pretty well I think- I made it into a comedy festival in Chicago, and had a good set there. But after that was over I realized how time intensive it is to become a really good stand up comic, and I didn’t have that time in my life, and I didn’t want to be just an okay comic, so I decided to stop. My main theatre-making these days is with a theatre company I joined in 2015, The New York Neo-Futurists. With them I write, direct, and perform tiny plays- about 2 minutes or less- in a show called The Infinite Wrench. In the show, we try to perform 30 of these plays in 60 minutes, and the audience decides the order. It’s chaotic and experimental, but with moments of truly real, grounded art. I love having a theatre family that keeps me on my toes and lets me be completely myself.
The Horn of the Aerial World
by Gina Gillie
I'd be happy to share a little about my interest in aerial silks.
I went to grad school with an undergraduate colleague who started taking pole dance around 2009. When I saw her pictures, I thought it looked like an awful lot of fun, so I started classes in 2012. After a broken wrist from a bike accident, I started up on lyra (aerial ring), and then finally got to try silks in 2016. That was actually the apparatus that interested me, since it seemed a bit like the horn of the aerial world - temperamental and difficult, but incredibly nuanced and elegant. I enjoy the art of it and the physical challenge. It's the most fun way to develop upper body strength and flexibility that I have encountered.
I'm not always able to train consistently because of my full-time job as a professor and performing musician, and because of a few injuries, but I try to get back to it when time allows. Currently, I take an hour-long class once a week.
Being a musician helps with the artistic side of aerials. Dancers talk about motifs, beats, and rhythm as well, so I am easily able to incorporate my knowledge of music into physical movement. When I create a routine, I am sensitive to the flow of the music and its important moments. This makes if easy to imagine how moves would fit well with the music. I've tried to dream up ways of incorporating the horn into an act; I even thought about getting a super cheap stunt horn, but I haven't done it yet. While my skills are not advanced, I find aerials a very fun way to challenge my body as I get older. Here is a video of some of my work.
Dr. Gina Gillie is an accomplished performer and composer active in the Seattle area, as well as holding the position of Associate Professor of Music at Pacific Lutheran University.
“Interview” of the Month: Jukka Harju
Horn and More has never run a feature quite like this one: Finnish horn virtuoso Jukka Harju, also an accomplished filmmaker, has prepared this delightful quasi interview, quasi rockumentary for our delight and inspiration. This just may become your favorite horn video of all time! -KMT
The holidays are just around the corner!
Did you know that when you shop for the holidays at smile.amazon.com/ch/93-0773613, AmazonSmile donates to International Horn Society?
Don’t forget about gift memberships to the IHS! Our Annual Membership Drive through the month of December brings you many membership options:
Gift Memberships: https://www.hornsociety.org/membership/gift-memberships
Club Memberships: $35 for 8 or more people
Family Membership: $75 for up to 3 members at the same address
Lifetime Membership, electronic membership, student membership . . . find the option that fits for you! https://www.hornsociety.org/membership/membership-benefits
The IHS also offers discounted rates based on the categorization of a country on the IHDI (Inequality-adjusted Human Development Index). Countries are in one of 4 zones, and based on this a reduced membership rate is offered, and for Zone 4 countries membership may be free! Please reach out to us if you have any questions!
Help us improve our website
We Want to Hear from You! As a valued community of horn players, we want to hear what you think about our website (www.hornsociety.org). Your feedback from this brief survey will help us improve our current site and better serve your needs.
Complete the survey by Friday, December 20, 2019 for a chance to win one of these gifts:
A copy of Richard Watkin’s CD “The Romantic Horn”
An IHS logo ‘condensation collector’ towel (choice of red or black)
A 1-year IHS electronic membership
Holiday Horns New England
New Hampshire: Saturday 7 December (Plaistow, NH)
Boston: Sunday 8 December (Boston University)
Come play in New England's ONLY mass horn choir events this Christmas season. Join us in New Hampshire on Dec 7 or in Boston on Dec 8....or both! All ages and abilities are welcome. No competition, no stress, just a day of fun horn choir, all ages playing all together. Ugly / festive sweaters & decorate your horn, prizes will be awarded! To participate in the White Elephant gift exchange: $5 buy in or donate a baked good.
Please register for either (or both!) dates here: https://forms.gle/hYhX7KPxAg2JDfXp6
These are FREE to participate, and the concert is free and open to the public.
This year we are endorsed by the International Horn Society and will be sponsored by Pope Instrument Repair
Myron Bloom Tribute
by Ellen Dinwiddie Smith
Like many of the young musicians of my generation, I was inspired by the Cleveland Orchestra recordings conducted by George Szell. Soon I began hearing the name Myron Bloom and words like "legendary" being used in connection with those recordings. At that point in my life, I had not heard many orchestras 'live', but in 1982, I did have the opportunity to hear L'Orchestre de Paris when they played in Austin, Texas. Luckily, Myron Bloom was playing first horn on that evening's performance of Brahms Symphony #3. The beauty of his sound, the inevitability of his phrasing and the sheer musicality that his playing embodied drew me in and I immediately made it my goal to study with him. Thankfully, Myron accepted me as a student and became my teacher and mentor first at the Juilliard School and then at the Curtis Institute of Music. Perhaps because my father was a West Point graduate and Lieutenant Colonel, Myron's no-nonsense communication style worked for me. Many of his 'barked' commands remain seared into my memory: "Prepare the sound! Play the phrase! Connect the notes! Rhythm!" He often made short exclamations and expected one to immediately follow them. He was demanding but always with the goal of making great music. It should not go unmentioned that I was not treated differently because I was a female horn player. There were several young women in the studio, and his teaching style did not change. He was incredibly respectful of his female students but did not pull any punches. Being true to the music was the most important thing.
Myron taught me that I was indeed a musician (not just a horn player!) and opened my ears to intensive listening. If it didn't sound good it couldn't be right! He set the bar high. We talked about musicians he admired and recordings that he loved. One summer at the Waterloo Festival in New Jersey, I was privileged to play alongside him. His rhythm astounded me - he was a rhythm machine! As my time as a student came to an end, I kept in touch with Myron (and got to start calling him that, or Mike, instead of Mr. Bloom). I enjoyed getting to know his wife Susan and visited several times over the years. We spoke about articles in the New York Times, David Brooks columns, the death penalty, the nature of true genius - things we hadn't covered in lessons. I continued learning as I watched him live with dignity and integrity. His dear wife Susan Moses kept in touch whenever something new was going on with his health, and for that I'm thankful. Myron Bloom was loved for his heavenly sound, and it is my hope is that he found the perfect horn in heaven. He deserves nothing less.
