by Caiti Beth McKinney
Hello everyone!
This December, I want to shine the spotlight on the incredibly talented and versatile composer and performer, Shanyse Strickland. While horn is her primary instrument, she also plays and records music on flute as well as on other wind and brass instruments. Strickland has a unique musical voice, incorporating elements of rhythm-and-blues, jazz, and other genres into her works. (Definitely check out her recording called Horn Vibes on which she performs an amazing horn-centric RnB track!)
Originally from Akron, Ohio, Shanyse has degrees in Horn Performance from Youngstown State University and Duquesne University, as well as an Artist Diploma in Jazz French Horn from the University of North Texas. Now based in New Jersey, she frequently performs in a wide array of genres, including rock-and-roll and neo-soul.
To date, Strickland has published four original compositions for horn in a variety of chamber configurations. Moods, written for horn quartet, seeks to represent what Strickland describes as “everyday feelings,” which, to my ear, manages to capture moments of joy, melancholy, and peace throughout the work. In contrast is her work A B.O.P. – Beats of Power! for trumpet, horn, and trombone/bass trombone. This piece pulls from Black-influenced genres such as jazz and disco to create music with “multiple vibes.” Another of Strickland’s powerful compositions is I Would…and I WILL for brass quintet, which she describes as “a portrait of the heart of black women during slavery,” based on a quote by heroine Elizabeth Freeman, an enslaved black woman who won the first successful freedom lawsuit in the United States. Not to be missed is Strickland’s piece For Your Love, “an RnB, hip-hop, and contemporary mash-up that symbolizes the passionate journey that two lovers go through while sharing life with each other.” Combining flute, horn, spoken word, and electronics, this piece embodies the new genre of what Strickland calls “Classical-Pop.”
For more information or to purchase her works, please visit Strickland’s website: https://www.shanysestrickland.com.
