por Gabriella Ibarra

Venezuela: Durante 2021 a comunidade latino-americana de trompistas desenvolveu diversos projetos e um deles se destacou por se dedicar à união dos trompistas venezuelanos que emigraram devido à difícil situação que atravessa a Venezuela. Muitos destes músicos foram formados no conceituado Sistema de Orquestras da Venezuela, onde a orquestra passa a fazer parte imediatamente do quotidiano de cada uma das crianças que crescem nesta numerosa “família musical”. A necessidade de se conectar novamente para tocar originou o grupo Venezuelan Horns durante 2019. Depois de várias gravações remotas, Venezuela Horns dá um passo à frente para oferecer “Cornada 2021” um festival virtual que proporcionou uma grande oportunidade para tantas crianças e jovens participarem do masterclasses dos professores Joel Arias, José José Giménez, Hugo Valverde, Will Sanders, Jean Philippe Chavey e David Cooper. A organização estava a cargo de uma equipe de jovens: Ángel Eduardo Mendoza, David Mendoza, Javier Mijares e Nelson Yovera, além de contar com o apoio de professores e trompistas venezuelanos: Luis Fernando Ruiz, Javier Aragón, Luis Valladares, Liber Oscher, Alberto Arias e Juan Sebastian Gimenez. Cada professor deu sua contribuição de conhecimento e orientou cuidadosamente cada criança e jovem selecionado para brincar. A ideia do festival era torná-lo acessível e sem custo para todos os participantes e graças à coordenação do professor Joel Arias como representante da Venezuela junto ao IHS, este evento se tornou uma realidade. A Escola Nacional de trompa da Venezuela e o El Sistema também estiveram presentes na “Cornada 2021”, que prevê uma nova edição a partir de agora para 2022.

Argentina: O professor Miguel Angel Gimenez tem trabalhado com seus cursos de trompa e trombone na Escola Superior de Música da província de Salta, apresentando um recital de todos os seus alunos com arranjos adaptados por ele mesmo no dia 24 de novembro.

Colômbia: O naipe de trompas da Orquestra Sinfônica de Bogotá: Dante Yenque, Diego Parra, Oscar Alvarez e Daniel Bello planejam um concerto com música de Natal para 12 de dezembro às 14h00.

by Gabriella Ibarra

Venezuela: Durante el 2021 la comunidad latinoamericana de cornistas ha venido desarrollando varios proyectos y uno de ellos se ha destacado por dedicarse a unir a los cornistas venezolanos que emigraron por la difícil situación que atraviesa Venezuela actualmente. La mayoría de estos músicos fueron formados dentro del reconocido Sistema de Orquestas de Venezuela en donde la orquesta pasa inmediatamente a formar parte del día a día de cada uno de los niños que van creciendo dentro de esta numerosa “familia musical”. La necesidad de conectarse nuevamente para tocar originó al grupo Venezuelan Horns durante el año 2019. Luego de varias grabaciones a distancia el Venezuela Horns da un paso adelante para ofrecer “Cornada 2021” un festival virtual que le brindó la grandiosa oportunidad a tantos niños y jóvenes de participar en masterclasses por los maestros Joel Arias, José José Giménez, Hugo Valverde, Will Sanders, Jean Philippe Chavey y David Cooper. La organización estuvo a cargo de un equipo de jóvenes: Ángel Eduardo Mendoza, David Mendoza, Javier Mijares y Nelson Yovera, además de contar con el apoyo de los maestros y cornistas venezolanos: Luis Fernando Ruiz, Javier Aragón, Luis Valladares, Liber Oscher, Alberto Arias y Juan Sebastian Gimenez. Cada maestro hizo su aporte de conocimientos y guió con esmero a cada niño y joven seleccionado para tocar. La idea del festival era hacerlo accesible y sin costo alguno para todos los participantes y gracias a la coordinación del maestro Joel Arias como Representante por Venezuela ante la IHS, se hizo realidad este evento. La Escuela Nacional de Corno Venezuela y El Sistema también estuvieron presentes en “Cornada 2021” que se plantea una nueva edición desde ya para el 2022. 

Argentina: El profesor Miguel Angel Jimenez viene realizando un trabajo con sus Cátedras de corno y trombón en la Escuela superior de música de la provincia de Salta presentando un recital de todos sus alumnos con arreglos adaptados por él mismo el pasado 24 de noviembre.

Colombia: La fila de cornos de la Orquesta Sinfónica de Bogotá: Dante Yenque, Diego Parra, Oscar Alvarez y Daniel Bello tienen previsto un concierto con música navideña el 12 de diciembre a las 14 horas.

by Katy Woolley

I want to talk to you about practise. Maybe I’m a bit behind the curve here, but I only recently really realised the extent to which our private work is linked to the eventual outcome on stage. Am I unfocused in my practise? Then my performance will likely be distracted too. Do I beat myself up during my sessions? Then I will probably be suffering from detrimental negativity in the concert as well. Do I try random things over and over and hope that they work? Then the performance may well suffer from that hit-and-miss character, too. Now of course there is no one right way to practise—we are a wonderful collection of various learning styles, preferences, tendencies, etc. Imagination, therefore, ought to be the shining light at the centre of each player’s creative world.

Imagination: “The act or power of forming a mental image of something not present to the senses or never before wholly perceived in reality.”

One of the fundamental points of practise is to improve. By necessity, we must continually be searching a multitude of newness and traversing what can be a scary voyage of change. We must be comfortable exploring actions/sounds/feelings/processes that have never before been wholly perceived in our realities. We must, therefore, also be understanding and respectful of a whole host of outcomes we are bound to experience, both desirable and, sometimes, not so desirable.

Many of my current students and friends know about my love of the following trilogy: Thought—Action—Result. I have noticed that my frustrating, less-effective practise sessions are when I become overly focussed on the result. At the end of the day, Result is what we want: a great entry, smooth lines, a ringing sound. But this is the one part of the trio that isn't directly under our control. Thought is trainable, controllable, adaptable. The resulting Action (and the link between the two) is also trainable, controllable, programmable. Result is wonderfully enlightening and educational, but it is purely a consequence of the first two.

So for this short article, let’s peek more at that first stage: Thought. This is interchangeable with Imagination. Let’s take a brief look at some definitions of Thought: “An opinion or belief in the mind,” or “The intellectual product or the organised views…of a period, place, group, or individual.” Now this is splendid if your views and beliefs are helpful and conducive to excellence, but in my experience, many deep-rooted opinions can be the opposite: I’m too young, too old, too small; my low/high register isn't good enough, my fingers are too slow, I’m not strong enough, etc. Yet my experience shows me that every one of us is capable of doing one single thing that we thought we couldn’t, and one small change can lead to more and then become cumulative in their growth potential. It is my firm conviction that anyone can develop past their present beliefs. That is what excites me to practise—to use my imagination beyond any limiting assumptions that I’ve held—and you can do the same.

So how can imagination be applied to practise? Here are a couple of my favourite examples, both of which I begin without my horn in my hands. First is the “What If” game. “What if I were someone who could…” …play this with a great, wide, audience-rattling sound, with a beautiful subtle entry, with the smoothest connection. What would that feel like? look like? sound like? What breath would facilitate that? How would the air flow in and out of my body? Where is the power source? I imagine an answer to one of those and turn it into an action which can be practised away from the instrument. Once I truly and deeply have the thought and action flowing nicely, it’s time to see what the result is! Second, I try and imagine the shape of any particular note or phrase, as if it were alive in the room. How can I allow that note or line to ring in the room? What texture, colour, depth, personality, weight, way-of-moving does it have? How can I create that note and set it free? These examples allow for freedom of thought to experiment outside the prejudices we hold against our own playing. We then use these to adapt our actions, movements, and techniques, and we observe the result as a tool to further direct our exploration.

But these are just a couple of my processes! You will have many ways of finding your own exciting boundary-defying intentions. The entire scope of possibility is available to us all once we climb into the infinity of the imagination.

Born in Devon, England, in 1989, Katy Woolley is a passionate and dedicated teacher. At the age of twenty-two, Katy was appointed Principal Horn of the Philharmonia Orchestra, and this led to solo performances of works by Mozart, Strauss, and Britten, as well as the premiere of Tansy Davies’ Forest Concerto for four horns with the Philharmonia and New York Philharmonic Orchestras. Katy was appointed Solo Horn of the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra in 2019, and she is widely regarded as one of the most exciting horn players of her generation.

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by Gabriella Ibarra

Venezuela: During 2021, the Latin American horn community began developing several projects, and one of them has done a remarkable job of making it possible to connect the Venezuelan horn players who emigrated due to the current difficult circumstances in Venezuela. Most of these musicians were trained within the recognized El Sistema of Venezuela, an institution where the orchestra immediately becomes part of the day-to-day life of each of the children who are growing up within this huge “musical family.” The need to play together again was the main reason for the group Venezuelan Horns' emergence in 2019. After several remote recordings, Venezuelan Horns took the additional step of offering “Cornada 2021,” a virtual festival that provided a great opportunity for many children and young people to participate in masterclasses given by teachers like Joel Arias, José José Giménez, Hugo Valverde, Will Sanders, Jean Philippe Chavey, and David Cooper. The organization in charge of the young people included Ángel Eduardo Mendoza, David Mendoza, Javier Mijares, and Nelson Yovera, with additional support from the Venezuelan horn teachers and players Luis Fernando Ruiz, Javier Aragón, Luis Valladares, Liber Oscher, Alberto Arias, and Juan Sebastian Gimenez. Every teacher offered his knowledge and careful guidance to the students selected to play. The premise of ​​the festival was to make it accessible but also free of charge to all participants, and thanks to the coordination of teacher Joel Arias as IHS Representative for Venezuela, this event became a reality. The National School of Horns Venezuela and El Sistema were also present at “Cornada 2021,” which is already planning now to offer the course again in 2022.

Argentina: Professor Michael Jimenez prepared his Horn and Trombone Chairs at the Higher School of Music in the province of Salta and presented a recital involving all his students, with arrangements adapted by himself, on November 24.

Colombia: The horn section of the Bogotá Symphony Orchestra, Dante Yenque, Diego Parra, Oscar Alvarez, and Daniel Bello, have planned a concert of Christmas music for December 12 at 2:00 p.m.