by Mike Harcrow
The recent Messiah University choir tour—we just returned on May 27—took our outstanding Concert Choir and Chamber Singers to Finland, Estonia, and Latvia for nine days. With all four members of the university horn quartet also serving as members of the choir, and with a subsequent request for me to travel as valvoja (chaperone) for the tour, a series of wonderful events began to take shape for the horn students. My “100% on-board” colleague, Director of Choral Activities, Dr. Joy Meade, prepared chances for the quartet to play with the choir while I contacted IHS Advisory Council member Tommi Hyytinen in Helsinki to pursue opportunities for them there.
Dr. Meade chose a largely a cappella choir program while using the quartet as accompaniment for two pieces, including a stunning premiere setting of Be Still My Soul (the hymn-tune set to Sibelius’s moving Finlandia chorale) by Paul Cohen. The quartet—students Annie Rizzo, Nate Winton, Oliver Paris, and Mimi Weller—also performed prelude music prior to each concert.
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| Helsinki Music Center, photo by Nate Winton |
Meanwhile, Tommi Hyytinen provided tickets for the quartet to hear a concert by the Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra performing the Sibelius Violin Concerto (Augustin Hadelich, soloist) and Tchaikovsky’s Sixth Symphony. The next day, the horn students enjoyed a masterclass at the Sibelius Academy where Professor Hyytinen heard them play solo movements and orchestral excerpts in addition to a movement from the Franz Strauss Quartets, and he coached them with techniques from his excellent method book, Playing from the Core.
Performing in The Rock Church in Helsinki and in “old town” cathedrals across the Baltic in addition to learning from a master hornist like Tommi Hyytinen combine not just as simple memories: these are formative experiences that have sparked permanent and positive changes in the musical lives of these outstanding students who eagerly worked to make the most of the opportunities.
