by Wojciech Kamionka

The 58th International Horn Symposium was a remarkable success and a historic milestone as the first Symposium ever held in Poland or in Central Europe. Around 500 horn players, teachers, students, composers, instrument makers, and guests from 50 countries gathered in Kraków for six unforgettable days filled with music, education, friendship, and international exchange.

The rich program featured 16 major concerts, nearly 30 lectures, numerous inspiring masterclasses, and countless performances by Contributing Artists. The Horn Quartet and Horn Ensemble Competition attracted 17 outstanding ensembles, demonstrating the exceptionally high artistic level of the event.

Participants especially appreciated the diversity of the program and the unique concert venues. Along with the Academy of Music, concerts took place in the magnificent Basilica of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, the historic Tempel Synagogue, the legendary Pod Jaszczurami Jazz Club, and the fascinating Polish Aviation Museum. Particularly memorable were the rarely featured combinations of horn and organ and horns and choir—instrumentations seldom heard at our International Symposia—as well as the deeply moving concert for solo horn and horn ensemble in the Tempel Synagogue.

The Symposium was widely praised for its outstanding artistic quality, excellent organization, and warm, welcoming atmosphere. The spectacular flash mobs in Kraków’s Main Market Square and at Wawel Castle became joyful highlights of the week. This first-ever International Horn Symposium in Central Europe will undoubtedly remain a cherished memory for all who took part.

For those who would like to keep a lasting souvenir of the event, the official IHS 58 Program Book is available to print or order at this private link.

The official IHS 58 Photo Gallery is now available on the website of the Krzysztof Penderecki Academy of Music in Kraków.

Respectfully yours,

Dr. Wojciech Kamionka, Professor of Horn, Krzysztof Penderecki Academy of Music
Host, 58th International Horn Symposium, Kraków 2026

by Charlotte Ulmer, IHS Marketing Director

Even if you weren’t a horn player, you could feel and hear something special happening in Kraków, Poland, last month. Over 500 horn players across 50 nationalities descended on the beautiful and historic city during the first week of July, anticipating long days of learning, performing, and maybe a few purchases. What actually took place was even more remarkable: multi-generations of horn players from all corners of the earth sharing a deep connection through the horn and learning that we feel the same frustration, joy, and insights.

IHS 58 was my second-ever symposium; the other was IHS 44 at the University of North Texas in 2012. As I perused the daily schedule in the online Symposium booklet before the following day of activities, I remembered the panicked feeling I had at UNT, thinking, “I want to go to Every. Single. Event…and I CAN’T! How do I choose?”

During the six days at the Kryzstof Penderecki Academy of Music, there were warm-up sessions with Andrew Bain or Frøydis Ree Wekre; masterclasses with Barbara Jöstlein, Christoph Ess, and Will Sanders; lectures about mouthpiece buzzing techniques, strengthening your sound through body awareness and muscle activation, horn in jazz, women composers’ works for the horn and bringing them into the mainstream catalog; morning runs as the sun came up; and afternoon yoga in any room into which the school could fit participants. University horn quartets were preparing for their competition, natural horns and alp horns were rehearsing for their respective evening performances, and heroic Mahlerian or Straussian calls from the fourth and fifth floors from participants at horn makers’ and exhibitors’ booths. If the building's doors were unlocked, there was never a moment to lose to watch, play, or listen.

While it is difficult to choose my favorite concert, I would say that the two most meaningful to me took place at the Basilica of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, featuring horn choir with organ, and at the Old Synagogue in Kraków, entitled Prayer for World Peace with the Sound of the Horn. The Basilica is recognized by its ornate 68-meter (224-foot) tower, and it is decorated with polychrome murals, mosaics, and stucco decorations. The horn choir of elite players from all over the world welcomed concert-goers with Lobet den Herren mit Pauken und Zimbeln schön ("alla Händel") by Sigfrid Karg-Elert (1877–1933). The sound from the gallery cascaded across every corner of the church, and it felt as if the heavens were singing for over an hour.

The Prayer for World Peace concert was equally moving but entirely different. Saar Berger, international soloist and Professor of Horn at the Trossingen State University of Music (Germany), created a sonic world with In the Silence that, as he states, “invites the audience into an experience of sound, space, and inner contemplation. Within the unique atmosphere of this historic place, music becomes the space for listening, concentration, and silent prayer. The horn enters a dialogue with the acoustics of the synagogue—a duet between horn and space. Through its echoes, new resonances emerge, carrying sound to the listener. The horn appears as a singing voice, intimately connected to human breath and song…[as] a prayer without words…."

To end the concert, a 10-piece horn ensemble conducted by IHS 58 host Wojciech Kamonika performed War Horns by Polish composer Paweł Pudło. The power and grace demonstrated by each player is hard to describe, but it felt like The Avengers had assembled. Both concerts received multiple, well-deserved ovations.

If you are curious about whether you should attend a symposium or what it is like, I invite you to Miami, Florida, for IHS 59 at the Frost School of Music, June 2-6, 2027. I look forward to seeing the new friends I made in Kraków again, being moved and astonished by performances, getting excited about what I will learn from a masterclass, and experiencing a city through the unique lens that the horn community creates each year.

by Inman Hebert

As the 2026-27 academic year approaches, I find myself at an existential crossroads, hurtling toward completion of a performance degree yet yearning for perspectives beyond my immediate professional goals. I attend the University of Alabama, a massive state university whose music program exists as but one artistic microcosm within a vast expanse of academic offerings. The sum of the college learning experience, however, far exceeds the comparatively small number of required credit hours. If we look beyond music classrooms, we can discover a vast interdisciplinary world within our grasp that, when unlocked, places us on a lifelong journey of discovery which both enriches our lives and elevates our musical passions.

College offers students the opportunity to build learning habits that extend far beyond training in a specific vocation. Exposing ourselves to this atmosphere pushes the boundaries of our curiosity beyond existing comfort zones, and college is a safe place to explore unsafe ideas.

Get comfortable with being uncomfortable, and encounter the infinite expanse of human knowledge and diversity of perspectives. Seek out other curious minds beyond your familiar corridors. Embrace uncertainty. Engage in conversation. Explore different points of view. Don’t be afraid to ask questions and reveal a lack of prior knowledge. Recognize the value of expertise. Learn enough to know what you don’t know and where you might look to discover more answers. In the words of my horn professor, Skip Snead, “You will never have more time than you do right now.”

As music students, we are preparing for a lifetime of performing for broad audiences filled with varied perspectives and experiences. The more exposure we gain in exploring humanity, the better we can understand both how our music impacts the broader world and how we might gain inspiration from the lived experiences concertgoers bring with them when supporting us by attending our performances.

As one example, the study of the social sciences—sociology, psychology, cultural geography, or anthropology—provides valuable insights into how the human mind has evolved over time and across places. Such subjects force us to decenter ourselves from our immediate surroundings and consider more deeply the varied cultures our performances could touch. Musicians are more likely to reach greater heights of inspiration and communication across broader audiences if we embrace the importance of interdisciplinary exploration.   

Other disciplines offer insights into the classical music we know and love. Intrinsically, the history of music connects to broader narratives of human history, from Beethoven angrily scratching out Napoleon Bonaparte’s name from his heroic symphony to the creative genius unlocked by Shostakovich in reaction to mounting political oppression and censorship. Many musical traditions connect with similar trends within the history of art and literature.

Taking the time to learn, appreciate, and discuss these links will only strengthen our musical IQs as we gain a better appreciation of the broader cultural contexts from which many of our favorite works sprang. Likewise, as we experience personal and collective challenges, possessing a greater knowledge of the past will broaden our perspectives so that we gain greater confidence in transforming difficulties into creative energy.

by Vidhurinda Samaraweera

The South Asian heartbeat of the arrangement  

Skye Edwards

The ensemble Dave Lee assembled for the track The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face (see Part III) is worth careful examination because each choice is deliberate. Skye Edwards, the iconic voice of the British trip-hop group Morcheeba, provides the lead vocal. Her delivery is velvety, unhurried, and entirely devoid of melismatic excess, which is precisely why it works. By keeping the melody grounded, she creates space for the surrounding instruments to breathe and interact. It is worth noting that Morcheeba’s own music was never far from South Asian sensibility. Their track Shoulder Holster from the landmark album Big Calm (1998) was described by the band’s co-founder Ross Godfrey as carrying a “raga, almost George Harrison vibe,” with sitar and Indian percussion at its foundation. Edwards was already sensitized to this world.

Sirishkumar Manji

On the other hand, string arrangements and atmospheric depth came from Steve Bentley-Klein, a crossover arranger who had previously shaped the string textures on Big Calm itself, and who understood Edwards’s timbre. However, the most transformative presence in the room is the tabla, played by Sirishkumar Manji. Sirishkumar is not a session player merely borrowing exotic color but a deeply rooted Indian classical maestro with a formidable heritage. He is a lifelong tabla virtuoso who learned directly from his father, the renowned vocalist and multi-instrumentalist Pandit Bhagwanji Manji. His father, in turn, was a disciple of the legendary Indian classical singer Pandit Omkarnath Thakur. Sirishkumar’s lineage alone commands respect among South Asian musicians.

How the horn finds its place

Playing horn in this context is no easy task. It is an instrument forged in the Western classical tradition, and in conventional terms resists many of the techniques that jazz, soul, and South Asian music demand. Lee met this challenge with several clever strategies.Throughout the piece, rather than doubling the melody or filling space with sustained pitches, Lee treats the horn as a second protagonist, engaging in continuous conversation with Skye Edwards’s vocal line. As she finishes a phrase, the horn responds in a somewhat obbligato style akin to Lester Young following along after Billie Holiday. He mirrors the contours of Edwards’s phrasing without ever competing with them. Moreover, as opposed to what the French call cuivré, Lee resorts to a darker, more focused tone that sits well with the string textures and the tabla rather than overpowering them. Lee also incorporates subtle lip and half-valved bends along with microtonal inflections foreign to any orthodox school of horn but essential to matching the style ascribed to the song. 

A final note

The Bristol trip-hop scene of the 1990s built its distinctive atmosphere from digital samplers, looped vintage vinyl, and synthesised string pads layered over breathy vocals. It was a genre built on borrowed sounds. Dave Lee’s arrangement achieves the exact sonic weight and emotional atmosphere of classic trip-hop but entirely through the live interaction of real musicians: a guru-lineage tabla player performing in the full depth of his tradition, alongside a classical horn player who has adapted his entire approach to meet that tradition with due and equal respect.

I find this deeply significant from a South Asian point of view. As previously noted, the horn has not yet solidified its place as a solo instrument within Indian or Sri Lankan classical music in the way it has, say, in jazz and more contemporary music. That remains true. However, what Dave Lee’s recording demonstrates is something equally powerful: that South Asian musical elements are fully capable of embracing the horn as a lead or obbligato voice. I hope the readers take-away is that the horn’s so-called limitations are, in the proper hands, simply parameters waiting to be reimagined—and that the horn does not belong to any one tradition. It never really did. It belongs to whoever is willing to ask the most of it.

Chamber Music Corner—Elizabeth Raum’s Pantheon

by Layne Anspach

The final horn trio in our series is Elizabeth Raum’s Pantheon. Elizabeth Raum (b. 1945) is a Canadian composer and oboist. She completed her undergraduate work in oboe at the Eastman School of Music and subsequently performed with the Atlantic Symphony Orchestra (Halifax, Nova Scotia) and the Regina Symphony Orchestra. She received a master’s degree in composition from the University of Regina. Raum, gaining initial prominence from her operatic works, has composed for a wide range of genres, including opera, ballet, musical, orchestral, concerto, band, vocal, and chamber works.

Pantheon for violin, horn, and piano (1999) is a seven-movement work that takes its inspiration from the Greek gods. The work was commissioned for the 1999 Scotia Festival of Music for Philip Myers, Erika Raum, and Peter Allen. The first movement, Eos: Goddess of the Dawn, starts with a solo horn call evoking the start of the day. The movement has the horn and violin play in conversation, rarely together, with the first occurrence lasting only a few notes. The movement builds to more shared melody that passes to a freely played violin solo. The opening horn call returns, transposed, as the violin and horn play alone again. While the piano generally supports the other members, it has its initial solo which brings the ensemble to the final section, recalling previous melodies. The second movement, Fates (Moirae), alternates between a hectic rhythmic pulse and a short slower section led by the violin. The movement features extended techniques for both violin (Bartók pizzicato) and horn (stopped horn) to expand the sound scape.

The third movement, Aphrodite, is in ABA form. The A section incorporates grace notes and slides, connecting to the sensual theme melodically led by the violin. The B section is in a swing style. At the return of A, the horn takes the melodic lead. Zeus and Hera are the topic of the fourth movement. The opening melody by horn and piano represents Zeus, portrayed as heavy and strong. The contrasting section represents Hera; it is in 3|8 and is lighter and more dance like. The movement alternates between these two characters.

The fifth movement, Artemis (Diana) Goddess of the Moon and the Hunt, begins with an ethereal violin solo descriptive of the subject. Similarly, the horn has various horn calls sprinkled throughout, representing the hunt. The sixth movement is a fast-paced and flighty duet between horn and violin descriptive of the movement’s title, Hermes (Mercury) of the Winged Sandals. The final movement, Apollo, provides a fitting end to the work as he is the god of, among other things, music. The opening horn call returns from the first movement, and it is passed around the ensemble and developed as a triumphant conclusion to the piece.

Jessica Elder is the hornist for the reference recording.

by Bernardo Silva with Manolo Pérez

It is a rare occurrence worthy of mention: Spanish Brass experienced one of the standout moments of their 37-year career, performing Spain’s national anthem on the pitch before the World Cup final against Argentina on July 19, 2026. That Spain won the World Cup makes the honor all the more memorable.

Spanish Brass was established in 1989 and has since amassed an unparalleled list of prizes and appointments. The quintet has produced 33 albums, including collaborative projects with well-known artists in various styles. Topping off their musical excellence awards, this year Spanish Brass was awarded the AIE Award for their lifetime dedication to music. They continue to tour the world, promoting peace and unity in energetic, highly-entertaining, and emotionally-charged programs.

“Representing Spain at the FIFA World Cup Final between Spain and Argentina was one of the greatest honors of my professional career. Performing at an event watched by hundreds of millions of people around the world was an unforgettable experience and a tremendous source of pride for me, my colleagues, and my country.

“This occasion also highlighted the important role of brass musicians on the world's biggest stages. The presence of a brass quintet demonstrated that our family of instruments is fully capable of taking a leading role at events of the highest international level. As a horn player, I am especially proud that this experience helped showcase the versatility and artistic value of our instrument. I hope it contributes to greater recognition of the horn—and the entire brass family—while reaffirming that we are fully capable of representing any institution with the highest level of excellence at any international event.”

Manolo Pérez

by Matthew Haislip

One habit I continuously catch myself in during practice is the tendency to keep the horn on my lips for minutes at a time. We all have our routines and exercises that help keep us in shape mentally, physically, and musically, but we often move from one exercise or etude to the next without much time for the lips and mind to recover, rest, and reset. In doing so, we are missing out on what could help us improve in all aspects of horn playing. To be sure, we all need some endurance-building time on the face each day to maintain a level of familiarity and stamina, but rest has its place, too.

In my warm-up, I tend to work on each set of exercises in each key I intend to play for the day and then rest after entire sets, but the horn barely leaves the face between iterations within a set, often leaving only just enough time to breathe. If I mix it up and take more time between each pattern, I find that the exercise becomes different: maybe easier, maybe more challenging, but a new experience instead of a thoughtless repetition. I must engage my attention more, even if only slightly. The short amount of time off the lips also helps with keeping me feeling fresh and not worn down.

Where I especially notice this is in the work I do playing overtone-series slurs followed by the same pattern articulated, often starting in the low register. If I take a quick breath and start the articulated set, I don’t even have to focus my attention to restart. It just flows easily from the tempo of the slurred pattern. But if I stop the musical time and take a few seconds to rest, I face the new challenge in starting the low note. It becomes a beneficial low-register entrance exercise, and I must engage more focus on the tempo, subdivision, pitch of the first note, and flow of coordinated horn playing to enter with beautiful articulation.

Another area where I notice this principle is in daily work on scalar exercises. If I go across the entire range of a three-octave scale all at once, I don’t need the same level of focus as if I rest at the top or bottom of the scale and re-enter from that note after a few measures of silence. By engaging the sense of focus, we add one more skill area to our practice.

Essentially, everything we play becomes a helpful opportunity to work on the coordination of hearing the notes before we play them and delivering each entrance with a beautiful start. One could call these accuracy exercises, but I think it’s more helpful to think of accuracy in terms of the coordination of ear, air, and time. By adding some rest to the equation, we engage our mind instead of just going through the motions. This is one more way that our practice time can become more effectively focused for our benefit.

Give yourself a break!