Corno, not Corona
by Anneke Scott
The beginning of the Coronavirus coincided with the tail end of a long Beethoven Symphonies tour with the Orchestre Révolutionnaire et Romantique. Whilst the orchestra is officially based in London, the musicians are a very international bunch. We find ourselves getting together for very intense projects and then going our separate ways. When you’re on tour, it’s easy to become slightly distanced from what is happening in the news. We were all hearing various things from our home countries and also picking up snippets of news from the countries in which we toured, but I think we were all aware that something was coming. We had about two months off between the end of this part of the tour (Chicago) and the beginning of the next part (London). Very sadly everything has now been cancelled, leaving a feeling of a gaping lacuna for us all.
The musicians from the ensemble continue to be in touch with one another - our principal trombone Adam Woolf immediately sprang into action with a rather nice idea, a project he called “Bach Together”. All the IHS readers are more than welcome to contribute to it! The idea is that we can all remotely add our voice a virtual choir and orchestra performing one of Bach’s chorale settings “Ich will hier bei dir stehen” from the St Matthew Passion. You can find the project here: http://adamwoolf.com/bach/
Adam knew I’d recently been given a beautiful two-valved piston horn and wrote asking whether I wanted to use my “new toy” for the project. The problem is that this instrument is nowhere near A440. However, I had just the thing for Bach chorales - my Corno da Tirarsi. This is an incredible instrument with quite an extraordinary story.
Antonio Pirrotto - "Recondita Armonia" from Tosca
Hello everybody from Italy. In this strange period I want share with you and with all the world a single version of "Recondita Armonia" from Tosca of Puccini.
Enjoy listening,
Antonio
Dr. Don Greene - Improving your skills as a musician during the pandemic
Dr. Don Greene, a peak performance psychologist, has taught his comprehensive approach to peak performance mastery at The Juilliard School, Colburn School, New World Symphony, Los Angeles Opera Young Artists Program, Vail Ski School, Perlman Music Program, and US Olympic Training Center. During his thirty-two year career, he has coached more than 1,000 performers to win professional auditions and has guided countless solo performers to successful careers. Some of the performing artists with whom Dr. Greene has worked have won jobs with the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra, New York Philharmonic, Chicago Symphony, San Francisco Opera, Montreal Symphony, Pittsburgh Symphony, National Symphony, Cincinnati Symphony, Pacific Northwest Ballet, and the Dance Theatre of Harlem, to name just a few. Of the Olympic track and field athletes he worked with up until and through the 2016 Games in Rio, 14 won medals, including 5 gold. Dr. Greene has authored eight books including Audition Success,Fight Your Fear & Win, and Performance Success. In 2017, Dr. Greene was named a TED Educator and collaborated with musician Dr. Annie Bosler to produce the TED-Ed How to practice effectively…for just about anything. The video went viral receiving over 31 million views across Facebook and YouTube.
Improving your skills as a musician during the pandemic
by Dr. Don Greene
IHS 52 Cancellation
It is with great sadness and with a very heavy heart that we announce the cancellation of IHS52 at the University of Oregon, Eugene. As the months of this pandemic have progressed, it has became clear that the health and safety of our members, vendors and the concert-going public should be first and foremost in our minds.
With the University moving to online instruction for the duration of its Summer Session, and International travel bans still enforced, it is clear that it would be impossible for the Society to move forward with having our Symposium in August.
The Advisory Council would like to express our great thanks and appreciation to Lydia Van Dreel for her excellent organization and her tireless work on this Symposium. Later this summer, we will be announcing this year’s honorees, the new members of our Advisory Council, and will also be unveiling IHS53, so watch www.hornsociety.org for these very important announcements.
The International Horn Society would not exist without our members, and it is for the protection of all that we have made this difficult decision. We look forward to the first opportunity we have to come together, learn from one another, play music together, and enjoy the nobility and beauty of our most incredible instrument.
- All participant and exhibitor fees will be fully refunded
- Refunds are automatic — there is no need for you to do anything at the moment
- When your refund has been processed, you will be notified by email
- It may take until the end of May for all refunds to be fully processed
Your patience and understanding is greatly appreciated
Please understand that these are unprecedented times for everyone, and the University of Oregon is handling numerous cancellations and restructuring of courses for online teaching. Your patience is appreciated.
Carmine Caruso and the Caruso Method
By Julie Landsman
My love of teaching was inspired by the great mentors in my life. The most influential teacher I had beginning at age 13, was not a horn player at all! He was Carmine Caruso, who played the saxophone and violin!
What was it about Carmine’s teaching that rocked my world? Let’s start with his unconditional love for all of his students. When I had a lesson with Carmine, I felt embraced and accepted, not only as a horn player, but as a whole person. Carmine taught from his heart, a quality I strive to emulate with my own students.
Carmine‘s favorite phrase was “play with abandon.” He often critiqued teachers who blamed the student for not improving. Carmine took his job as the “the fixer“ deeply to heart. It is the teacher’s responsibility, he believed, to help the student overcome any physical problems on the instrument, in order to become the best musician possible. If the student did not improve, the onus rested with the teacher. As long as the student did the work and the lines of communication remained open, it could be a beautiful partnership between a wise teacher and a motivated student.
I have tried to emulate my mentor. His patience and ease are qualities that I hope to embody. I made a pivotal phone call to Carmine while I was teaching at Rice University in 1983. The memory of this call for help remains fixed in my brain. I was having a difficult time staying calm and patient with a particularly challenging student, so I reached out to Carmine for his guidance on patience and tolerance.
A Tribute in Music to Norman Schweikert
Norman Schweikert was a huge influence not only on stage but through his teaching. In the 80’s and early 90’s, he conducted the horn choir at Northwestern University. Norman transcribed a number of works, but the Vaughan Williams struck me as a wonderful tribute to him. With the Chicago Symphony Orchestra dedicating a concert to Norman last November 1st, I thought the timing was right for a large horn choir with former students and current students. It would have been the way Norman would also want to be remembered.
Gail Williams, Horn Professor
Northwestern University
This concert turned into more than I ever expected. I would suggest it to one horn player, and the word got around about the recital - more and more people wanted to play. Brian Thomas, 2nd horn of the Houston Symphony and a former Schweikert student, provided me with programs from his era at NU. The program included a few works from those programs and in this order! Nu Horn students Chicago Symphony Horn Section joined by former students Chicago Horn Consort The Wilder work was performed with Norman many years ago. Vaughan Williams with 45 Hornists and Tuba, Gene Pokorny We sent Norman a huge lovely sound and certainly a memorable tribute.
