Rules and application for Contributing Artist and Lecturer spots for the 48th International Horn Symposium at Ithaca College, June 13-18, 2016, can be found at http://www.ithaca.edu/music/ihs2016/contributingrules/

Two new horn quartets have been added to the IHS Online Music Sales.

Composer Keith Moss writes about his Quartet No. 1:

The Quartet No. 1 for four horns was written for South African horn player Neil Smit. Neil requested a commission from the International Horn Society for me to write a new work for inclusion in his Masters dissertation. His study explored what might be possible if the performer worked closely with the composer during the composition process. A rather simple, celebratory melody opens the first movement of the non-programmatic work which travels through various permutations. I attempted to make each part interesting in and of themselves giving each player a chance to reflect their technical proficiency. The second movement borrows material from a score I wrote for a short film. The continuous ostinato pattern underlies the movement creating the rhythmic and harmonic texture of the piece.  The final movement provides a rounding off so to speak of the first movement with a fanfare type of theme. A short chorale prepares the movement for its brassy conclusion.​

We also have a new arrangement of a Mozart favorite, Ricardo Matosinhos's horn quartet arrangement of Mozart’s famous Alleluia from Exsultate, Jubilate. It was premiered by the Trompas Lusas Horn Quartet in his own wedding.

Faculty Host and Coordinator Alex Shuman has announced the Featured Artist lineup for the 48th International Horn Symposium.

Featured Artists include:

David Amram     
Pip Eastop     
Nobuaki Fukukawa     
Frank Lloyd
Philip Myers
Jeff Nelson
Leslie Norton
Bruno Schneider
Jeffrey Stockham
William VerMeulen
Gail Williams
Alexander Shuhan

For more information, see the symposium website.

Winner receives a 3 year IHS membership and a free t-shirt. Entry Deadline: December 1, 2015

1. All t-shirt designs must be original designs created by the entrant.
2. T-shirt designs should have a Horn or Music theme. We encourage, but do not require, the use of the IHS logo and the words “International Horn Society” in multiple languages in the design.
3. Do not include a date or a location in the design as these shirts will be sold over several years and are not event shirts.
4. Your design may include from one to four colors, including black (the color of the t-shirt doesn’t count as a color.) We are not limited to white shirts, but the shirt color will be limited by availability from the printer.
5. The maximum size for designs is 8" by 10" (20.3 cm by 25.5 cm). Designs may be submitted either as electronic files or as original artwork. Designs which are mailed in, should not be folded. If you want your artwork returned you must include a self addressed stamped envelope.
6. The International Horn Society receives all rights to the winning design, including, but not limited to, complete exclusive ownership of the design, the right to use and display the design in any media and any format, and the right to modify the design as needed to adapt to various printing formats. The creating artist will be consulted before any such changes are finalized to ensure that the original theme and intent is captured accurately. The International Horn Society will not retain rights to designs that do not win the contest.
7. You may enter more than one t-shirt design, but no more than three.
8. Deadline: T-shirt designs must be received by the Executive Director before December 1, 2015. Entries must include your name, address, phone number and email address (if available). Mail entries to:
        Heidi Vogel, Executive Director
        International Horn Society
        PO Box 630158
        Lanai City, HI 96763
9. The winning entrant will receive a three year IHS membership (in any name) and a free T-shirt.

The judging will be done by the Executive Director and a committee from the Advisory Council. The winning designer will be notified by March 1, 2016 and the shirts will be available at the 2016 International Horn Workshop and at future workshops.

Electronic designs submitted by email should have an image size of 216 pixels wide by 264 pixels high (3 inches by 3 2/3 inches at 72 dpi). The winner must submit a final high quality version of up to 8 inches wide by up to 10 inches high at 300 dpi (up to 2700 pixels wide by up to 3300 pixels high) in TIFF file format (RGB with PC Compatible byte ordering) or as vector art in either CorelDraw or Photoshop. Submit emails to: exec-director@hornsociety.org

T-shirt printers have indicated that successful t-shirt designs use fresh, clean and clear colors with good contrast, and avoid earth tones and muddy tones. Keep your design simple and stay away from small details that might get lost in the final printed tshirt.

Not all of the canvas space need be used and the outline (shape) of the design need not be rectangular.

For those who are interested in the techniques used to screen-print t-shirts, check out this excellent guide to Screen-Printing.

Hollywood composer and horn player John Dickson has a new horn ensemble piece for sale on the IHS Online Music Sales website, complete with his own studio recording.

Blockbusters grew out of a fanfare written some years ago for the composer to use as a horn demo.  Upon hearing it, horn legend Tom Bacon suggested that John expand upon the cinematic nature of the fanfare and create a multi movement work that evokes moods and images which are also movie-like in nature. Since the composer works in Hollywood, it seemed a perfect idea.

Thus the fanfare movement became the finale of this piece, "Fantastic Journey," and the rest of the work unfolded over the course of a couple days. (We work fast out here!) Each movement is designed to take an audience to a different place, whether a quiet reverie in On the Lake or a Dick Tracy-style street fight in Panic Attack.

Blockbusters was given a thrilling west-coast premiere performance by the IHS Advisory Council members to open IHS 47 in Los Angeles with the composer conducting.