The Other Side of Fear -
A Road Trip by Amy Sanchez
The following is a reflection from my recent 3-month solo adventure in travel, self-discovery, and of course, horn playing! Originally shared on Facebook, this post focused more on the first two rather than the latter, but I did indeed practice and record horn while on the road! I brought my recording gear with me (AEA ribbon mic, Apogee interface, laptop with ProTools) so I didn’t have to turn down any remote recording work, and rented a few hotels and AirBnbs along the way to do some teaching and master classes as well. While the pandemic has undoubtedly been difficult, it has also provided some unique opportunities. In addition to my “normal” work of teaching and recording, I spent much of my time on the trip photographing and filming for a yet-to-be disclosed project involving music and my passion for conservation. Hint: the project is related to a brass ensemble I’ve started, Horns for Rhinos, supporting the South African wildlife conservation non-profit Nkombe Rhino. You may remember an article in the May 2019 IHS Horn Call about my initial work with this endeavor!
Possibility.
“Everything you want is on the other side of fear.”
-Jack Canfield (also attributed to George Addair)
When do you feel most alive? Have you felt it recently? I think it’s fair to say that I’ve always loved travel - I remember as a kid all the weekends my family would simply “go for a drive,” or head into the Adirondack Mountains to go backpacking. For as long as I can remember, every time I pass an airport, I yearn to fly somewhere, anywhere. Exploration, curiosity, learning, adventure - it’s all part of it, but I realize now that possibility is the main motivation for me. When I travel, I feel like my whole world opens up and opportunities materialize. Not only tangible opportunities, but perhaps even more importantly, the opportunity to shift my perspective, to follow a gut feeling toward the unknown, to be vulnerable in the unfamiliar, and to simply be in awe.
I’ve always loved road trips and have been fascinated by the admittedly simple concept that quite literally, the road I live on leads to the road you live on- and anywhere in the continental United States! ☺️ We are so lucky to have such space and freedom to explore. Even without leaving the country, it would take more than a lifetime to see it all (and of course, foreign travel opens up even more possibility for perspective and discovery).
I fully understand not everyone has the opportunity to travel far and wide- and I’m extremely grateful (and work very hard) for the circumstances that have allowed me to do so. Keep in mind, there are trade-offs to everything, which I won’t get into here. Suffice to say, after spending four months in quarantine completely on my own this past spring, I decided to take advantage of forced “time off” (as a freelance musician, all time off is unpaid), and go on an ambitious solo road trip this summer. In what one might consider an extreme social distancing measure, from July into October, I traveled for 99 days, drove 15,692 miles weaving my way through 30 national parks/monuments and countless other national forests, state parks, and natural lands in 28 states (including a flight up to Alaska to photograph coastal brown bears!). I basically avoided cities at all costs. The map of my route is below, and while I know you can’t see all the stops clearly here, I’ll be sharing more details in the future.
For anyone curious, I used Roadtrippers to plan my route- a very helpful app/website! Side note, before anyone is too hurt that I didn’t call while I was passing through their town, please keep in mind most of my stops were very short, annnnnd we’re in a pandemic… I was avoiding all humans! ? I wish I could’ve visited so many friends along the way. I skipped some areas that I know I’ll be hitting in the future (like the Pacific Northwest), and a few areas I’ve been in the past, but I was able to cover an awful lot of the most beautiful parts of the United States.
Our National Parks and protected lands are certainly our greatest treasure. It was humbling to experience even just a bit of the vast wilderness areas that surround us, and see the monumental efforts that have gone into preserving them and providing public access. That road that I live on, and the one that you live on? It travels through some really incredible places.
Was I nervous? Lonely at times? Uncomfortable in the unknown? Even heart-racing scared? Yes, definitely. But the growth that comes from facing those challenging moments when you only have yourself to rely on and pull yourself out of far outweighs the temporary discomfort. In all my travels, for all the lonely moments, there have been ten times as many that I was exhilarated, in awe of my surroundings, and motivated to see what was around the next corner. Through all the nerves, I’ve gained a confidence that has left me far less concerned about what others think, far more comfortable in my own company, and ready to handle whatever comes my way. Will there be more nerves and fear in the future? I hope so- for me, it’s grounding, and the best way to move forward and create opportunity. “Everything you want is on the other side of fear.”
Needless to say, I have many photos, videos, and stories to share (and I’ve got plans for some of that in the future), but on the trip, once I removed myself from the constant news and social media bubble, the discovery came that I didn’t need to share it with the world as it was happening. I wanted to savor it, be fully present in the moment, reflect on it. And now, just under 3 weeks after returning home to LA, I’m barely getting to the point where I can put a few of those reflections into words. Of course, while this was a solo road trip, I wasn’t really alone, and am infinitely grateful to the close friends and family who support me in so many ways, even in my solitude - which I’ve learned is far different than loneliness. ♥️
More than anything, my goal is to bring the the awe-inspired eyes from my trip and the perspective of possibility with me in everything I do. LA feels different now, music feels different, community feels different - and everything feels possible; opportunity is around the next corner. A fundamental shift, and I hope the idea might help inspire others in this unprecedented time that has been difficult for so many.
Possibility and opportunity are on the other side of fear.
If you’d like to follow my journey, please find me on social media or at my website below, where I’ve very recently started blogging about music, conservation, travel, photography, and perhaps most importantly, inspiration. Much more to come!
www.AmySanchezMusic.com
www.HornsForRhinos.org
www.facebook.com/sanchezamy
www.instagram.com/amyoutsidethemusic
Pedagogy - Erik Ralske
Five Essential Reasons to Subdivide
Have you ever been so excited to hear a recording of a performance you just gave, feeling certain that it was not only flawless, but also musically thrilling, only to be bitterly disappointed after hearing the recording? You may think, “how could it sound so bland when it seemed so exciting from behind the horn?” Upon a closer listening, you may hear the missed opportunities to really convey the emotions of the music. Maybe you let a long note die on the vine? Perhaps you now hear a less than perfect slur? If it seems odd to think of subdividing as the cure for your musical malaise or technical lapses, not so! Read on….
Students are told by their teachers to subdivide from the earliest lessons, with the emphasis solely on good rhythm and yet the ability to play steadily still eludes so many. However, the value of subdividing while playing goes way beyond “playing in time”. In fact, subdivisions are the force that propels music forward—either towards greater intensity and passion or towards moments of calm of resolution. If we recognize the power of this mini-engine that sits between the big beats of the basic pulse, and then learn how to drive this engine with precision in order to take our listeners on exactly the journey we envision, our performances can be transformed.
How to start?
The first step is to take a passage and break down every long note down to the next logical smaller value. Using the the overly familiar solo entrance of Richard Strauss’ Horn Concerto #1 at bar 28 as an example, we would divide everything into 1/8 notes. Be careful not to articulate with your air, but instead, slice through a long block of air with your tongue. Play through the passage enough times with a metronome so that you’re certain of the rhythmic precision. Note: When practicing with a metronome, break free of being a passenger and “following the metronome”. By playing all the subdivisions, you are now the driver of the metronome, predicting with precision when the next click of the metronome will come.
The second step is to tie dynamics to rhythm. Now practice the phrase articulating every 1/8 note, thinking that each 1/8 is picking up more volume and intensity until you finally reach the exact high point, and then control the rate that each 1/8 note loses volume or intensity. This requires that you visualize in detail the contour of every moment of the phrase. Like a sculptor first roughs out a shape from a block of stone, your first few passes may not be fully refined. But with practice, the clarity of your ideal version of the phrase will emerge. I find it helpful to consider using numbers as though you had a volume dial that went from 1-20. So the first 4 bars of the Strauss Concerto passage might look like this:
By the time you’ve done this passage 10-20 times, you’ll hopefully notice a transformation, revealing 5 essential benefits of subdividing:
- Perfect rhythmic control.
- A much more clear and expressive line.
Communication of the intent of the phrase will be much more direct with a detailed dynamic plan based on 1/8’s (versus 1/4’s). It’s like having a much higher resolution photo versus a low resolution image from the 1990’s. For example, we all tend to decay on long notes even if the overall direction of the phrase is a crescendo. That can detract from your musical intent. - Better air flow throughout the phrase.
If you’re truly connecting the subdivision “dots” with your air, your air flow won’t lapse as long as you follow your dynamic blueprint. - Fewer technical glitches.
Better rhythm means better coordination of air, fingers and lips and therefore, fewer mishaps - Remedy for performance anxiety.
You will notice a deeper level of concentration and feeling of engagement while you play, as you control every moment, knowing the precise direction of the music at every moment, subdivision by subdivision. It’s as if you’re saying “now” with each passing subdivision,. Focusing on the present tense on a micro level, melts away attachments to past and future, where the effects of past mistakes or future expectations distract us from the task at hand: following the path you created with the stepping stones of the subdivisions of the phrase.
While this approach may be dismissed as overly analytical and lacking spontaneity, I maintain that with discipline comes independence. Once you’ve spent enough time experiencing your hands on the steering wheel of every moment of a phrase, one can spontaneously decide to deviate from your blueprint, as long as you maintain control of the direction of every subdivision. However, greatness is in the details. Great music and great performances are no different. Therefore, careful contemplation of the ultimate beauty of a phrase deserves no less attention.
Erik Ralske is currently Principal Horn of the Metropolitan Opera and a former member of the New York Philharmonic. He is a faculty member at The Juilliard School, Mannes College of Music and the Aspen Music Festival.
Horns A Plenty Christmas Virtual Ensemble
Don Krause, founder and leader of the annual Horns A Plenty Christmas ensemble, invites you to lend your chops and enthusiasm to this year's Covid virtual horn choir! The music and instructions are included in pdf this PDF(75 KB) , and the link to the click track is here.
Area Rep Corner - Jonathan Luxton
Your Horn and More team is happy to bring you this new regular feature, the Area Rep Corner. Here our representatives and regional coordinators from around the world can introduce themselves and share news from their local horn communities. Our first contribution comes from Jonathan Luxton, IHS country representative for Ireland.
Notes from the Emerald Isle
Since joining the International Horn Society, I am still the only member in Ireland. However, I have not been idle!
I have been able to carry on teaching online since March, and for the last three months, I have started directing the historic Limerick St. John’s Brass & Reed Band.
We are now in lockdown again, so my efforts to start an outreach programme with the band for young students in the local area have been put on hold. We were sponsored by Fine Wines Limerick so we could start an instrument bank, and we were able to begin teaching adults. It was wonderful to see the band hall filled with colourful P bones and P cornets. When will they start to make P horns??
I teach at a small music school in Killaloe, the Munster Music Academy, where so far I have one trumpet student. The school offers a good variety of instruments, but the majority of students (or their parents?) solely want to study the piano. This I just do not understand. By playing a string, woodwind, or percussion instrument, students have the opportunity to play in amateur orchestras, bands, ensembles, etc. I believe the opportunity to play in youth groups is so important for social interaction, friendships, teamwork, and responsibility to others, learning about other instruments, and expanding your musical education. If you only study the piano, it can be a very solitary musical experience. Interestingly, in November last year, I was invited to deputise as conductor of a local amateur orchestra. The orchestra had a fine string section but no oboes, bassoons, or French horns. Where are these amateur players?
The band’s outreach programme for teaching brass and woodwind to students is called First Steps in Music. I’m excited to have the opportunity to introduce brass at the grassroots level with these young aspiring players, and hopefully through them and their parents help to begin to spread awareness of brass in Limerick.
I am passionate about children having the opportunity to learn a musical instrument. I was brought up in the UK when instrumental lessons were free. We are offering local schools in Limerick the chance to study for a small weekly fee, and we will provide the instruments.
I have only been in Ireland for just over a year. In my time freelancing and teaching, I have met some wonderful horn players, but I have noticed a surprising lack of amateur brass and woodwind players in general in the greater Limerick area.
I believe that there is a wonderful opportunity here in Ireland to bring brass players, old and new, out of the woodwork, in addition to inspiring a new generation.
Mike Hatfield Recollections Request
Horn friends and enthusiasts,
Please consider contributing any recollections, anecdotes, simple one-liners you heard and have remembered from working with Michael Hatfield throughout his career from public schools days in Evansville, college days in Bloomington, and professional and informal days throughout his performing and teaching career in Indianapolis, Cincinnati, Aspen, Santa Fe and Bloomington for a tribute article being constructed. Photos from all those cities are being sought as well as recollections from administrators, audience members will gladly be included along with those from former colleagues and pupils. Mr. Hatfield has touched so many nationally and internationally. Please send your thoughts at an early convenience to John Dressler via jdressler293@gmail.com.
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.
