Harry Chiu
My horn journey started when I was 10 years old; a little child from Hong Kong who had never travelled out of the country was given a chance to perform at the 40th International Horn Symposium in Denver. This trip to Denver marked the beginning of my musical journey. The opportunity to “share the stage” with the American Horn Quartet and Frank Lloyd in the same concert was inspirational, unforgettable and honorable. The music on that day touched my heart and soul, and I can still hear it today.
After that day, I was given the motivation to take the horn even more seriously. I continued my study at the Hong Kong Academy for the Performing Arts and was very fortunate to have my mentor, Mr. Joe Kirtley, to guide and lead me in the following years. After 10 years of hard work and fun times, we both decided it was time for me to take the next step. In 2015 I was honored to be selected as a Kovner Fellow at The Juilliard School and studied with Erik Ralske. The 4 years of study in New York gave me a new perspective. With so many wonderful orchestral performances in New York, I had many opportunities to broaden my horizon. In 2017 and 2018, I was chosen as a member of the Tanglewood Music Center orchestra where I had the opportunity to work with the wonderful Boston Symphony musicians and many amazing artists. In 2019, due to an elite accelerated program, I completed both my Bachelor and Masters degrees of Music at the Juilliard school. My 4 years in America gave me a good sense of American music culture and horn playing styles. At that point, my hope was to experience and learn more about European music culture. I was very fortunate to be given the chance to study in Berlin at the Hochschule für Musik Hanns Eisler Berlin. The years in Berlin have given me an additional perspective in horn playing and music, and I can’t wait to continue to explore more in my journey. My dream is to inspire young children by integrating what I have learned and experienced and by sharing my music with them in the future.
Jordin Andrews
My name is Jordin Andrews. I am 22 years old and will be graduating this spring with a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Akron. My interest in music started in the fourth grade when I joined band and started to play the trumpet. In eighth grade I had the opportunity to switch to horn, which I eagerly accepted. From then on, playing the horn not only became a hobby but a passion – it didn’t take long for me to realize that I wanted to make playing horn my career. As I grew older, I joined every youth orchestra I possibly could – the Canton Youth Symphony Orchestra my sophomore year, the Akron Youth Symphony Orchestra and Cleveland Youth Wind Symphony my junior year, and the Cleveland Orchestra Youth Orchestra my senior year. In addition, I performed in nearly every local honor band I could, including the OMEA honor band and even won my high school’s concerto competition. I won the competition with Timothy Jackson’s Etude (Don’t Make it Bad), a piece I was totally enamored with at the time. That same year I was given the opportunity to travel with the Cleveland Youth Wind Symphony on their tour of Europe and perform as a soloist.
After graduating from high school, I decided to attend the University of Akron because I had earned enough scholarships there to pay for my tuition. My studies went very well for a couple of years – I excelled at music theory and actively participated in every ensemble and competition I could. But, during a scholarship competition in 2018, I noticed that I was shaking. Shaking wasn’t new to me, however; in fact, my doctor had even prescribed me a drug to help calm my shakes. But this time was different, the medication didn’t seem to help calm my tremor. I couldn’t figure out why this was happening but from that moment on, the shakes continued to persist severely throughout my daily life.
At the point of frustration, sometime later, I decided to seek out medical advice. It took nearly a year to receive a diagnosis but finally, on January 18th, 2019, I found out that I had a large brain tumor. The tumor, which was resting on the part of the brain that controls movement, the thalamus, was estimated to be approximately the size of a ripe peach. It was also determined that the tumor was most likely the cause of my tremor and that it wasn’t going to go away. I was devastated, not because of the tumor, but because I didn’t think I would ever be able to have a career as a musician. But after having brain surgery, six weeks of radiation therapy, and 13 months of chemotherapy, I realized I had gone through too much to simply give up on my goals. I knew that a career in performance was unlikely with my tremor, but I also knew that everything I had been through should empower me to do something great.
After a lot of thought, and conversations with my doctors and teachers, I realized that I was in a unique position to help other musicians. I didn’t want others to feel like they needed to give up on their careers because of a medical condition or unfortunate circumstance like I had. Now, in addition to working towards alleviating my tremors and recovering from my brain tumor, I want to take what I’ve learned, through personal experience, and use that knowledge to help others. I plan to create a business, specifically for musicians who are struggling with a disability, which not only empowers those musicians to keep playing but also helps to find solutions to overcome their disabilities so that no one feels like they have to give up on music. The solution can come in a variety of ways, whether it be physical therapy, medication, physical accommodations, surgery, or any combination of therapies. I hope to create a program with a collaborative approach, one that will involve engineers, doctors, and other musicians, all coming together to help find a solution to any issue a musician might face.
Interview of the Month - Hugo Valverde
Kristina Mascher-Turner: Who was the first person to put a horn in your hands all those years ago in Costa Rica? What was it about the instrument that fascinated you?
Hugo Valverde: The first person who introduced me to the horn was Francisco Molina, the general manager of the “Escuela de Música de Barva” back in 2003, in my hometown, Barva. He insisted that I chose the horn because it had been a while since someone wanted to play it. My very first horn teacher was Daniel León Rodríguez, who is also from Barva.
KMT: Speaking of Costa Rica, what is it like to study and make a living in music in your home country? There seems to be a rich tradition of community bands and ensembles, for instance.
HV: There are several small music schools that are part of a program called “SINEM: Sistema Nacional de Educación Musical (National System of Musical Education)”, but they are only to start the students into music. If their desire is to undertake a more intense course of studies, they’re going to have to gain entrance into the two main music schools in Costa Rica: “Escuela de Artes Musicales” of the University of Costa Rica, or the National Music Institute; both schools located in San José, the capital of Costa Rica. Many of these schools are located in remote areas of the country. This is quite remarkable because they offer an opportunity to all those students to learn more about the music world and its wonders, but they don’t offer college level teaching. This turns into an obstacle for them to keep up with their academic studies, especially if they live far away from San José.
Making a living as a musician in Costa Rica is not that easy because the performing opportunities are quite limited. If I were to provide an example as a classical musician, it is definitely difficult to get a stable and long-term job, since the only professional and full-time orchestra in the country is the National Symphony Orchestra of Costa Rica. The employees who work there are public ones, meaning that they will retire according to the plans of the government, not when they want. This job provides immense stability because you’re basically a government employee, but it's the main reason why so many other musicians can’t aspire for a job like that right out of school. This was one of the reasons why I left Costa Rica back in 2012.
However, there are many other musicians who develop their careers and incline towards other areas in music: salsa, latin jazz, jazz, merengue, etc. These musicians work mostly as freelancers, and they perform all around the country. They have to be quite versatile if they want to manage all those genres well. I admire them greatly! There are community bands and most of them are part of the music schools in every hometown, and that’s how I was brought into music, when my mom would take me with her to see my hometown’s community band play. It was always very special because my dad played trumpet there!
KMT: What advantages or disadvantages do you think growing up in Costa Rica gave you personally, preparing for life in the performing arts?
HV: Thinking about the advantages, the fact that I was always close to concerts provided a more diverse view of the arts scene here in Costa Rica. My parents would take me to community band concerts, orchestra rehearsals as well as concerts and many other opportunities that paved the way to a life to be dedicated to the arts; music specifically.
As members of the performing arts community, we must always acknowledge how vital the audience is, because without them, we wouldn’t be able to thrive, nor to dedicate a life to the arts. My parents made me very aware of the importance of the audience and of supporting the performing arts in every possible way. It’s not the same case in every household, unfortunately, which leads to the main disadvantage I experienced here in Costa Rica. Not having the support from most people in the country, or the ones who think that the arts are not a worthy career. I grew up in a town where many people are known for being artists, and the support we receive is invaluable, but it’s not the same in the rest of the country. I thought that it would be the same in the rest of the country, but it wasn’t the case, and that affected me a lot. The biggest issue is that there’s still a long way for artists to feel 100% confident they have to dedicate their lives to art without feeling discouraged or even discriminated for choosing a real career that will deem you deserving of support.
KMT: So many of you from the Rice Horn Crew have landed nicely on your feet. What was it like to be in Bill Vermeulen’s class and together with your fellow students? Do you have any stories or anecdotes from your time in Houston that you’d like to share?
HV: To have been part of Bill VerMeulen’s studio at Rice was something very special, but it had its challenges. While at Lynn University, I was always impressed to hear about the successes of the horn studio at Rice University, and that made me prepare at my best to secure a spot if there was an opening. When I got my acceptance letter into Rice, I couldn’t have been happier, and I knew that a period with lots of work to do was about to start. When I first heard my classmates, I was just mesmerized by their level of playing, and that right there served as my main motivation to improve from Day 1. I remember telling Bill that I was in trouble because I was the worst one in the studio. He replied instantly that I was wrong because I had things to offer to the other classmates that I could do very well, and the whole point of being there was to share those, but most importantly to learn from the rest of the studio and improve together daily. I think this is the main reason why we all wanted to get better and be able to see that improvement each day. We got together every Saturday morning at Stude Concert Hall to play mock auditions for each other. That helped me tremendously, always being ready for a mock audition, because that’s the best way to deal with the anxiousness and nerves created by playing in front of a committee - even more so in front of your classmates, teachers and other friends as well. It was a time where I learned how to trust in myself even more, and to reaffirm that the horn is just the best instrument out there and that it shouldn’t be considered that hard to play!
KMT: With the MET audition, was it a matter of the right chops in the right place at the right time, or were you purposely seeking an opera position?
HV: My dream job was always to play in a major orchestra in the United States, when I saw the Met audition listing, I could not let the opportunity go by without giving it a try. I got to see the Met live back in 2016, while I was in NYC auditioning for the Orchestral Performance program at the Manhattan School of Music. Javier Gándara (one of the third horns of the Met Orchestra) gave me a ticket to see Puccini’s “Manon Lescaut.” That opera night was just marvellous, one of the best musical experiences of my life, being out there in the audience. The colors I heard, the amount of expression, the phrasing, the versatility and the incredibly high level of the Met Orchestra really impressed me that night. It confirmed my desire to be part of a major orchestra in the US, and then the Met became a goal after that night. It was merely a matter of being ready for such a big audition, for which I prepared thoroughly for about 4 months.
KMT: How would you say it’s different preparing for an audition for an opera orchestra, compared with one for a symphony orchestra?
HV: The only notable difference on the paper is the amount of opera excerpts you will be asked to play, but I would say there is not much of a difference in the preparation process and learning the excerpts. It could take more time for you to learn all the opera excerpts, but it’s something you will notice right away, once you’ve looked at the excerpt list. I listened to every excerpt through the “MET Opera on Demand” platform, which I accessed to from the Rice Library, and spent many hours listening to every detail: tempo, dynamics, sound color, etc… It was more work to do in terms of listening in case you don’t know many of the operatic excerpts.
KMT: Tell us what happened to you when the pandemic brought everything to a halt.
HV: I had just finished playing “The Flying Dutchman” with Gergiev conducting, and we wondered what was going to happen next. The following day we received a notification saying that all performances at the Met were going to be canceled until further notice, and they kept moving the come-back date even further. This upcoming March 11th will be a whole year since I last performed at the Met, and I miss it terribly.
Nothing in life prepares you for the hard hit of a global pandemic, and it just doesn’t get any easier to deal with. I took the decision of moving back to Costa Rica 11 days after we got the notification that all performances at the Met were canceled; from April 1st 2020, the management of the Met decided to furlough the entire orchestra, chorus, stage hands, and many other departments of the company. That day I will never forget, because a lot of thoughts start crossing your mind, and especially when it’s one of the most stable jobs in the country for a musician.
Adapting to a life without concerts with an audience (temporarily, of course) is not what an artist would want, this is why it has brought many days of uncertainty and demotivation, no question about it. It has certainly been hard to stay 100% motivated and in the same shape I was when I finished Wagner’s “The Flying Dutchman”, but the silver lining of this crazy time has been getting to spend a lot of quality time with my dear family back in Costa Rica, and to enjoy the beautiful weather. One of the projects I decided to do was to put together and organize warmup sessions with the horn students from Costa Rica, led by different professional horn players from around the US, Europe and other areas of the world. The first part of the warmups had 31 guests, which meant having a different guest daily for a whole month, and the second part of those was only two weeks long. A total of 45 horn players were very kind and generous with their time to give this space in their schedules for us to learn more about the horn. It was tremendously helpful and fun.
After that, I stayed motivated for about 2 months, but then my willingness to practice started to decay slowly, and it got to a point where I just wasn’t playing at all. The turning point was when my mom told me I wasn’t acting like the curious and hard-working son she knew from before, that I was turning into another type of person… this hit me very hard, and even more so when two of my neighbors asked my parents if I had left to the US, because they stopped hearing the horn through their backyards… these two events were crucial for me to get my stuff together and start practicing again. It has been a month and a half since I recovered from that and I’m back in great shape with the horn, and also physically, since I went back to a very active routine of mountain biking with my old friends here.
My family has been doing ok, and no one in my household, nor my other relatives has been diagnosed with the virus. I hope it remains that way until we all get vaccinated, hopefully sooner than later. Regarding to moving back to NYC, it all depends if the Met will reopen in September 2021, but I’m hopeful we will do our best to bring the magic of the MET Opera at Lincoln Center back to life very soon.
KMT: How, if at all, would you encourage young musicians hoping to start a career as performers, in light of the damage the coronavirus has created for the global cultural sector? Is it realistic to hope for this anymore?
HV: It will be different from what we used to see and be told, but this doesn’t mean, by any means, that it will be end of the arts industry. Young musicians nowadays must be even more creative, and their projects always have to include virtual content. I often encourage younger people to raise awareness of the importance of the audience and the dedication we must have to keep people interested in supporting our work, as they’re the ones who will show us that very needed support after all. A large amount of our work ought to be outside the practice room, making music accessible to the rest of the world, regardless of race, ethnicity, religion, sexual preference, among other aspects. Music is a universal language and shall always remain so!
KMT: What, besides music, gives you pleasure and inspiration?
HV: My family has been the main source of my motivation and inspiration, hence, all the work I do will be reflected in how they raised me. They always inspired me and forever will. Seeing unity amongst my relatives and friends also makes me happy and in a way, gives me pleasure to be alive, and that I try to portray when I play music at the Met, and wherever I happen to have the privilege to be doing so.
HORN AND MORE - IHS E-NEWSLETTER
The first edition of the IHS E-Newsletter of 2021 is a very special edition, truly global and comprehensive. It demonstrates in a robust way the large family that is the IHS and much of what it symbolizes: cooperation, commitment, altruism, perseverance, resilience, talent and opportunities. Exciting testimonies and evidence of those who fight for their dreams, for their life, for their jobs and for opportunities to demonstrate their talent and passion for the horn.
Unfortunately for many, the new year of 2021 did not bring much news. Globally, societies are disturbed by the pandemic and anguish, yearning to return to normal life. Times are of constant and permanent challenge for education and culture. More than ever, the purposes of IHS are vital and can play a central role in the morale and motivation of the entire horn community. To feel that we are not alone, that we cooperate with each other in a selfless way and that we inspire each other.
The main theme of this edition is the celebration of young talent, rising stars. Names from the present and for the future! A demonstration that our community is revitalizing, is dynamic and fascinating! Enjoy the interview of the month (with Hugo Valverde from Costa Rica) and several excellent articles and videos. I would like to highlight the moving article by Jordin Andrews (USA), where he shares his experience of fighting a brain tumor and how that experience transformed his life goals.
Also in this edition, take note of important announcements about deadlines for contributions to the IHS 53 symposium, competitions, scholarships, and more.
Before finishing, I would like to thank the invitation to write this introduction and congratulate the entire fantastic team of the IHS E-Newsletter for the terrific work they have been doing. It is a huge privilege to belong to the large family of the IHS, a community with room for all horn players and horn lovers, regardless of their level or their origins. Together we build this one horn community and become stronger. If you are not yet an IHS member, please consider it.
Greetings to all, with the best wishes for health and peace.
J.BERNARDO SILVA 26/02/2021
Orquestra Sinfónica do Porto Casa da Música
Horn teacher at the University of Aveiro, ESMAE (Escola Superior de Música e Artes do Espectáculo do Porto) and
Professional School of Music of Espinho
Trompas Lusas Horn Quartet
Member of the Advisory Council of the International Horn Society
IHS Area Rep Corner – Zachary Cooper
Notes from Big Sky Country
I first joined the International Horn Society when I was a student in college. Receiving my first issue of The Horn Call was such an eye-opening experience, realizing how many other horn players there truly were in the world. I had heard of the IHS when studying with founder, Bill Robinson, in high school, but it was when I became a member that I suddenly understood what the IHS did for me and for all of us. It connects us to something greater, an entire community. When I came to Montana five years ago, I was surprised to find an already thriving community of hornists.
Now that I am the IHS Area Representative in Montana, I hope to build and strengthen that community of hornists, of which many of you are probably unaware. We are a state with seven regional orchestras, highly skilled performers, and the perfect training grounds for our future orchestral and military band performers and music educators.
During the pandemic, our orchestras have continued to record concerts, without audiences, and publish them on MTPR, PBS, and YouTube amongst others. Our state universities have continued creating experiences through online masterclasses and competitions across the country. A sophomore student at the University of Montana won an intercollegiate mock audition competition against four other institutions nationally. The community band in Missoula gave concerts outdoors during summer 2020 to audiences blocked for contact tracing. In addition to teaching at UM, I presented at the IHS Virtual Workshop and worked with my colleagues of the Northwest Horn Society to start a podcast for our members in the region. A UM grad also serves on the board of the NwHS and recently moved to Washington state to finish her student teaching. These are just a few examples of what we are all doing in Montana.
In such a strange time when we have lost many opportunities to engage with others, our horn community has worked to educate and perform and, perhaps most importantly, remain relevant.
The Quarantine Stretch - Part 2
Solicited and Introduced by Mike Harcrow
This is assuredly one of the most bizarre seasons any of us has experienced. Many musicians have suffered untold 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!
Ken Bell
I am a freelance horn player in the Baltimore, Maryland region. For the last 20 years, the bulk of my income has come from playing assistant first with the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra. I am also the hornist at the Hippodrome Theater and Principal Horn with the Lancaster (PA) Symphony. Most of my income through horn playing has stopped, due to the pandemic. The Baltimore Symphony and the Lancaster Symphony have provided some employment through virtual performances. Although performing has been my major focus and income, I started diversifying several years ago. I have been an adjunct horn instructor at Gettysburg College and doing brass instrument repair for several years. More recently, I became the librarian and personnel manager of the Baltimore Chamber Orchestra.
I have always been passionate about music as a career even with its ups and downs. So when I did branch out, I did so within the music field.
I have expanded my private teaching (all virtually) to students and adults, which complements my college teaching. I find that the increased teaching is helping me improve my playing and explore new methods of teaching with my students.
Another passion is brass repair. I’ve normally concentrated on cleaning and repairing horns, but have expanded to full restorations of other brass, including trumpets, trombones and antique horns.
I have arranged music for many years, but lately I have been using these skills to create pedagogical material for my students. I have learned (like everyone else) to teach and record solos and ensembles virtually. My knowledge of audio and video recording, and the proper tools to use has certainly increased! I am hoping to expand my web presence so as to increase my teaching and repair income.
I have some interesting new hobbies, which may or may not generate income, but I look forward to them. I have been learning a foreign language through a phone app and haven’t missed a day since I started in March. I have also enjoyed home projects, like rebuilding my shed from the ground up.
I endeavor to keep a positive, forward-looking attitude, which I believe is as important as anything else. I try to practice daily and enjoy virtual practice sessions with other colleagues once or twice a week.
I look forward to the day when we are all performing together as before, but until that happens, l will continue to expand my skills and remain open to new opportunities.
Garrett Krohn
My name is Garrett Krohn, and I am a horn player based west of the Twin Cities in Minnesota. I am working on my dissertation to complete my Doctorate of Musical Arts from Bowling Green State University in Ohio. This past summer I accepted a position at a large church in Big Lake, Minnesota as the Creative Arts Associate. The position has helped diversify my skills with technology as well as vocal technique. Part of my duties every week involves doing all the tech program for both of our campuses, which includes Ableton, lights program, LED wall, mainstage patches, etc. I also lead worship each week singing and playing guitar.
I also serve as the adjunct instructor of horn at the University of Northwestern, St. Paul where I teach once a week. Sometimes we are able to meet in person, and sometimes we meet via Zoom. I also have several private students that I meet with online.
Quarantine has pushed me musically in several directions. At work, it has forced us to adapt as a church to all online content, which means a lot of video editing for myself and the rest of the team. In my personal music pursuits, without any gigging opportunities, it has allowed me the time to pursue other musical interests. For me, this includes transcribing and practicing bass and exploring other hobbies, such as disc golf.
Joshua Paulus
Dr. Olivier Huebscher
Professor of Brass, Mount Allison University, Sackville New Brunswick, Canada
I have found myself doing a lot more teaching, and a lot more teaching of much younger students as well. I have taught online lessons for 5 years so that aspect is not particularly new, but half of my online studio is now middle or elementary school horn players. There is a very different energy and skill set to teaching very young students as opposed to music majors with professional aspirations.
Secondary skills is a tough one. The online lesson aspect is part of it, and also trying to figure out ways to do distanced chamber music via recording. I have a woodwind quintet, Volante Winds, and being based in different countries has made live performance or rehearsal impossible. To combat that we are commissioning a new piece by Brian Nabors, which is designed to be premiered virtually. Basically, seeing what we can do with technology as a support instead of as a substitute guides us.
I have been lucky enough not to need an additional job with my University and private teaching workload. This is mostly due to having enough savings to tide over lost income. However, it is very tight and the loss of performance income is something that I know many people are struggling with. Teaching is something that only really works when there are performances to teach people for so that is not something that can sustain a profession.
I have tons of hobbies and new interests, but few with any money-generating potential. I have made a little bit of money working as a personal trainer, but that is only an option because New Brunswick gyms are open (with Covid precautions). Wish I had a more hopeful answer here, but I don’t think anyone is going to be paying me for my baking anytime soon!
Bernhard Scully
In terms of diversifying and bolstering skill sets for the future due to current orchestra and performance cancellations, I have taken a number of strategies. This also applies to my performance/research interests, my teaching at UI and abroad, and my oversight of Cormont Music/Kendall Betts Horn Camp. It is my belief that all musicians should expose themselves and familiarize themselves with as much diverse music as possible. This includes Western Classical/Non-Classical Music, Non-Western Classical/Non-Classical Music, and Indigenous Music from around the world. This is dealing with the totality of world music, and likely it may not be possible to fully engage with everything. I propose then to think of it as a continual life-long learning endeavor. It is important to take the horn into every musical realm possible, even if there is no precedent for it. By engaging with the horn in areas that currently have no precedent, you are now establishing a precedentJ Also, it is important to access one’s own creative potential. This includes improvisation, composition, arranging, entrepreneurial thinking, etc., in your daily work. Again, this can be very incremental, but consistent engagement with these skills will allow musicians to become much more versatile, be more in touch with their own inner creative voices, and much more autonomous (having more agency for themselves in relation to their career) in their lives as musicians. At Cormont Music and the Kendall Betts Horn Camp, I have implemented a curriculum that embodies every element of what I deem necessary to be a successful and prepared musician in the 21st century and beyond:
- Focus on Fundamentals of Horn Playing (including ear training; theoretical harmonic/rhythmic training; basic elements of craft like phrasing, breathing, efficient tone production, articulation, dynamics, range, endurance, and so on)
- Historical Performance (Western Natural Horn, Horn in Non-Western cultures)
- Western (European) Classical Orchestral Horn Training and audition preparation
- Health and Wellness (Alexander Technique, Yoga, Mindfulness)
- Creativity (Improvisation, Composition, non-traditional approaches to performing-teaching-learning, and General Entrepreneurial Guidance)
- Solo Master Class Coaching with a World Class Collaborative Pianist
- Horn Chamber Music in the form of horn quartet and large horn ensemble playing
At Cormont, we have also adapted to the new online world by creating virtual content in the form of the “Online KBHC Experience” which probably many IHS members attended this past June. We also are offering monthly sessions we call “Horn Camp Connect” which have featured our diverse KBHC faculty along with interactive guided practice sessions. We are offering all of our online content as a gift to the music world during this difficult time, free of charge.
My teaching at UI reflects these values as well. If students can become familiar with and work these various elements into their daily lives, then they will be all the more enriched and versatile as musicians, ready to adapt to whatever situation arises and go after their dreams whatever they may be.
I have not really taken on new hobbies per se, but I have ramped up a couple things that I normally have more on the back burner in my daily life. I have focused on my physical fitness training in the form of triathlon training (partially to keep myself balanced during this very difficult time). I have begun reading more books, especially in areas I have not studied or explored before. I have delved into creative work like improvisation and composition much more than I have in the past. Most importantly, my wife and I have spent a lot more time with our children, helping them with school, playing with them, and just hanging out with them in ways we have never had the ability to do in the past. I have been cooking a lot more and have learned new recipes. I am also trying to learn Spanish. None of these things are directly resulting in income, but I am sure they might become useful in various ways into the future.
Thai Johnson
Tenor completing an Artist Diploma at the Schwob School of Music at Columbus State University (Columbus, GA)
Before this pandemic began, I accepted a contract to sing the role of “Don Ottavio” in Mozart’s Don Giovanni with the Prague Summer Nights summer program. I was amongst the majority of musicians whose performance plans were cancelled due to this pandemic, and since I could no longer travel and perform this role, I spent the summer educating myself in other areas to aid my performance skills. This included attending online voice pedagogy workshops, reading about a variety of topics including language study and investing in the stock market, and signing up for virtual masterclasses and concerts. I learned more about earning income as a private instructor and body awareness through online workshops and webinars. Using all the knowledge I acquired over the summer allowed me to begin building my own website and establish a private studio online. Though I missed out on a wonderful performance opportunity, I now have skills and knowledge which will further my career and set me up for future opportunities.
I have always had a strong interest in the Alexander Technique and vocal pedagogy, so this summer allowed me to delve deeper into those subjects. I was able to attend five weeks’ worth of an AT intensive which helped me to better understand the mechanics of my body. I worked in private coachings with professionals whose backgrounds included all areas of the arts community, and working with such a diverse group allowed me to build a new professional network while simultaneously learning about body awareness from a multitude of perspectives. Several voice pedagogy workshops and conferences were also cancelled due to COVID-19, but that opened opportunities for virtual conferences. This actually made these opportunities more accessible, so I was able to attend the Acoustic Vocal Pedagogy hosted by the New England Conservatory of Music, learning from some of the top of the field in the pedagogy world. I would never have been able to attend a workshop like this had it not moved online.
I am fortunate to receive a scholarship and stipend through my assistantship with my school, so I do not need a second job. This allows me to focus more on my education, but I recognize I am one of the fortunate few who can say this. I do some work with a local Episcopal church as a soloist, but aside from that and a small online studio, I rely mainly on my assistantship and some family assistance to support me.
What hobbies or new interests—music-related or not—are generating income for you?
As I mentioned earlier, I have been learning more about vocal pedagogy and teaching and have a virtual studio. Over the past few months, I have been able to teach several students and earn a small profit that way. I hope to expand this as I move away to pursue my master’s degree, wherever that ends up being. I have also been working with my school to put together performance videos to share publicly, so I hope to start generating income through virtual performances. When everything starts to open and normalcy returns, my expectation is the work I do during this pandemic to market myself and share performances will lead to live performance opportunities as well. Only time will tell, but I am thankful for the time to continue learning and expanding my skill sets. If you want more information about who I am and what I do, please feel free to check out my website, thaijohnsontenor.com, and enjoy this recent performance video.
Scholarship Program News
Hi Everyone, Patrick Hughes here, coming to you from Austin TX. I am one of your Advisory Council members, and the IHS Scholarship Coordinator. I hope that all of our IHS members and their loved ones are healthy and staying safe. I’m writing today to give everyone an update on the IHS Scholarship Program Competitions.
First and foremost: All the competitions this year are on!
There are 2 BIG news items I want to highlight:
- The competitions and their deadlines have been spread throughout the year, in order to avoid the bottling up of deadlines that usually occur in April—which is, for many a tough time to be making recordings and getting recommendation. My hope is that spreading the deadlines out will enable horn players to keep the competitions separate and unique, and allow everyone the chance to plan which competitions you’d like to enter. We will be naming the winner of each competition usually within a month of the entry deadline, and celebrating each winner via announcements on the IHS page as well as social media outlets.
- We’ve adjusted the repertoire requirements, primarily due to the pandemic’s effect on making recordings with pianists due to social distancing. So, look for more options to play unaccompanied solos, as well as allowing for solos that usually require collaboration to be played sans piano, AND look for a few new repertoire changes!
Though the deadline for the Barry Tuckwell scholarship application has passed (December 1), the rest of the competition deadlines are still coming up!
- January 1: Mansur Award (essay/letter only--no recording)
- February 1: Frizzelle Orchestral Excerpt Competition (includes recordings) completely online this year!
- March 1: Hawkins (includes recordings) - virtual
- April 1: Premiere Soloist competition with a deadline virtual preliminary, and the live finals round which will be part of the online IHS 53 next summer!
More details to come regarding the Premiere Soloist competition, as new repertoire is being discussed right now.
So get your horns out, start looking at repertoire to record and check out the IHS website for specific information about all of the scholarships competitions at https://www.hornsociety.org/about-the-ihs/scholarships
