(An objective guide to helping you find the horn of your dreams).
by Ken Pope

Anyone who has attended a regional horn workshop or one of the annual International Horn Symposiums knows that the moment you walk into the ‘BIG’ (aka - LOUD!) room you’ll be overwhelmed by the choices presented to you. You’re looking to buy a horn, perhaps your first double, or stepping up to a professional line instrument and you’re not quite certain how to go about it. Not only that, but if you talk to fellow players or look online you’ll get loads of advice - much of it conflicting. Add this together with the fact that anyone can hang a sign on their house and proclaim themselves a ‘horn maker’ and you realize that you should be as cautious and educated on the process as possible.

I’m here to help you sift through all of that. I’m not going to tell you which wrap is better (8D vs Geyer) or what alloy it should be made of (nickel vs brass/red brass) or which make is the best.. There are objective ways to judge the quality of a horn - how well it was put together. A horn that is poorly manufactured will eventually lose value quickly and will deteriorate equally as fast.

Audition advice: Denise Tryon (Philadelphia Orchestra) and Karl Pituch (Detroit Symphony Orchestra)
Interview by Kristina Mascher

Q: In Europe, horn students have traditionally chosen to focus on "high" or "low" horn and have prepared to take auditions exclusively for corresponding orchestra vacancies. Do you think this is a valid approach in today's job market? Or should young players try to do it all? What are the advantages/disadvantages in specializing?

Denise: I think it's wise to be as well rounded a player as possible, and therefore you are able to take both high and low auditions. This opens up so many more opportunities and you never know what might happen!

Karl: Also, most auditions now have both high and low register excerpts that we all have to learn – Shostakovich 5 is on almost every list, Till has the low register for a high horn and Beethoven 7 is pretty high for both. So you really need to learn the entire range of the horn. I started as a 4th horn and slowly moved my way through the section.

Q: When given the option of sending an audition recording for the preliminary round or making the journey to play live, is there an advantage to showing up personally?

Denise: I think playing live is the best option, if you are able to do it. In my experience, on both sides of the recording device and screen, it is much more challenging to advance with a recording.

Karl: Playing live is the best option. You can’t control where or how your recording will be heard. In the live audition, everyone will be listened to in an equal setting.

Q: How did you develop the concept of your workshop, Audition Mode?

Denise: When Karl and I would talk about our students and auditions, we realized there was no dedicated seminar/workshop to discuss the audition process and we wanted to change that. We made sure to have a dedicated high and low list. We also wanted to have everyone work on both lists and take both mock auditions at the end of the seminar (to refer back to your first question!). We wanted to incorporate some section playing as well, since most times you will need to play in the section in order. We also discuss preparation, performance anxiety and what to expect the day of the audition!

by Bruce Richards

“Think Different” Apple computer’s famous slogan was, and is a symbol for doing things differently, and that is what I want audition takers to do. Regardless of the situation e.g. exam, recital, concert, audition, or competition you need to take a fresh look at your preparation to break the chain of actions, thoughts, or events that lead to performance anxiety.

Over the last few years I have been teaching at a new summer course in Spa, Belgium. The “Stage International de Musique en Province de Liège.” Aside from the normal teaching I have given master classes on breathing, but over time it seemed that more and more students asked my opinion, or asked for help with performance anxiety. As professor of horn at the Liège Royal Conservatory I have had many students ask for coaching, or help in this matter. The psychology of performance seems to be something that is often neglected.

So, this year I will be presenting a master class on performance anxiety. It is a subject that has fascinated me for a very long time. I have developed many different techniques which I have used with horn players, violinists, trombonists, and of course myself. The title of the master class is:

“Break the Chain”

If you can imagine a prisoner with a ball and chain attached to his leg. The ball keeps him from escaping. The ball is performance anxiety, and the links in the chain are forged by us one link at a time until we are attached to the ball and can’t escape.

One of the techniques that I will teach in the master class is called:

“How to format the hard drive”

With a computer we often have to create partitions in the hard drive. Essentially separating sections from each other. This protects you from trouble because you are only using one partition at a time. Taking an audition is the same as using your computer. You have programmed each excerpt and stored it in it’s own partition in your brain.

If you imagine the brain as a series of rooms (partitions) and each room has a name. e.g. Mahler 5, Tchaikovsky 5, Strauss Concerto no. 1, etc... Each room has a door. If the first piece I have to play is Mozart 4, I go to that door, open it and go in. I focus only on Mozart 4, and perform it. If the next piece is
Till Eulenspiegel I leave the Mozart room closing the door. Everything that happened during Mozart stays in that room. (errors, problems, accidents, etc...) I then go to the Till room and go in. I focus on Till, and perform it. Etc, etc... Visualisation is very important. The act of leaving the room means closing the door and moving on.

Only after the audition is over do I go back in to each room to analyse each performance. I write down all the details and decide if I need to simply correct some mistakes or completely “reformat” the partition relating to a particular excerpt. This technique can be applied to all types of performances. I found it an easy way to get back my focus, even in the middle of a concert. Break the chain of thought. Use varying approaches to find a mental solution.

“Think Different”

http://www.cs-academy.be/ Stage Internationale de Musique en Province de Liège
http://www.crlg.be/ Conservatoire Royal de Liège
http://brucerichardshorn.com/ Bruce Richards (personal web site)

par Bruce Richards

in English

"Think Different", célèbre slogan de Apple, a été et reste un symbole pour concevoir les choses différemment, et c'est ce que je voudrais que les artistes fassent. Peu importe la situation, examen, récital, concert, audition, ou concours, vous devez porter un nouveau regard sur votre préparation pour briser la chaîne des actions, des pensées ou des événements qui conduisent au trac.

Depuis quelques années, j'enseigne lors d'un nouveau stage d'été à Spa (Belgique): le “Stage International de Musique en Province de Liège."

En marge de l'enseignement normal, j'ai donné des masterclasses sur la respiration, mais au fil du temps, il apparaissait que les étudiants sollicitaient de plus en plus mon avis et mes conseils en rapport avec le trac. En tant que professeur de cor au Conservatoire Royal de Liège, j’ai rencontré de nombreux étudiants qui souhaitaient un coaching ou une aide en cette matière. La psychologie de la "prestation" semble eneffet être un aspect souvent négligé.