by Richard Seraphinoff, Indiana University

For the past several years, I have been organizing my horn class recitals at the IU Jacobs School of Music according to a theme or featuring a specific composer, and I wanted to share this concept with teachers everywhere simply because of the fun we have had doing it. Choosing a single composer or theme has made our class recitals into more of a project rather than a potpourri of unrelated pieces with no underlying relationships. “The Franz Strauss Project” has a nice ring to it, and the preparation for a collaborative endeavor makes everyone feel like they are equal participants in the event.

When I started looking, I was surprised how many composers had written enough music for horn that a dozen or more students could have their own individual piece or movement. So far, with a class of about a dozen horn majors, we have done concerts featuring Mozart (there are 11 concerto movements, the concert rondo, and the unfinished fragments…and to make it even more fun, we have also done them with four-horn accompaniment), Gliere (three concerto movements, four short pieces plus four more transcribed from op. 35), Alec Wilder, Franz Strauss, Antonio Rosetti, Jan Koetsier, the Otto Nicolai duets, Bernard Heiden, and Randall Faust. For this last one, Prof. Faust came as our special guest.

On November 20th this fall, our class project was the music of James Naigus with James present as our special guest. James played piano for his music, and everyone was excited about getting to perform their piece with the composer. 

Aside from specific composers, we have done other themes, like pairing up horn students with IU composition students to commission a piece for each student, or performing pieces by past IU composers, or preparing a concert in which students searched out underrepresented composers for a diverse concert of works by composers who deserve more attention. A particularly enjoyable concert was one in which each student did their own transcription of a piece written for voice or for another instrument.

These recitals also give students the opportunity to say something about the piece, the composer, and any other relevant information that would be of interest to the audience. This is great practice for doing research, for collecting their thoughts to talk for a minute or so before they play, and to actually speak. It is also a good dry run for generating program notes or talking to the audience before degree recitals—in which we would like for students to connect with their audiences in addition to providing background on the compositions.

So far, we have not run out of prolific composers of horn music or themes on which to base a concert. The list of future projects is long enough to go for several years without repeating anything.

Try this idea for your next class recital. It will transform it into a memorable, even newsworthy, event.

Rick Seraphinoff, Professor of Music, Indiana University Jacobs School of Music, https://www.seraphinoff.com

Mozart-Inspired Strategies for a Playful and Productive Year

by Katy Carnaggio

We adore tales of prodigies, especially ones like Mozart, dazzling audiences at the keyboard before most of us can tie our shoes. It’s almost like witnessing magic…an otherworldly gift the rest of us could never hope to replicate. But the more I study his development, the more I see something else: possibility. Behind the legend lies a scaffolding of structured learning, situational support, and creativity that anyone can tap into. His genius wasn’t predestined; it was built—one skill, one opportunity, and one playful twist at a time.

While discipline often gets the spotlight, it’s Mozart’s playful ingenuity that sets him apart. Like many composers of his era, he developed an impeccable understanding of musical grammar rooted in the Neapolitan partimento tradition. But what elevates his work from skilled to extraordinary is his willingness to bend the rules and have fun with the process. You see it clearly in his letters—writing backward to tease his sister, mixing languages, or twisting phrases in unexpected ways. That same spirit of curiosity and whimsy courses through his music.

And that’s the real secret. When you blend discipline and structure with humor, joy, and a little bit of mischief, the work becomes not only productive but—as we can still say about Mozart 233 years after his death—irresistibly alive. 

As we step into the new year and consider our own possibilities, it’s natural to think about setting goals. Mozart’s approach offers an inspiring lesson: great work happens when rigor meets fun. The best goals aren’t just shaped by formulas; they go beyond them, reflecting what sparks your curiosity, makes you smile, or feels a little daring. To help you embrace this spirit, I’ve created a chart that blends the science of goal-setting with a playful twist: a Bingo card for your goals! Use it to explore ideas that excite you, track your progress, and celebrate each mischievous, well-earned Bingo along the way.

Download here! 

by Inman Hebert

Greetings to all horn players, and happy 2025! As I pondered my New Year’s resolutions, making a horn-specific list struck me. Looking back at famous quotations that inspire me, I came up with a few key ideas that should make any horn student’s New Year’s list.

First and foremost, as horn students, we resolve to practice and commit to our instruments. Through the whirlwind of college and personal life, we can never lose sight of our desires to improve. We must commit to consistent, dedicated work on the instrument to achieve our goals. As the 16th president of the United States, Abraham Lincoln, said, “Your own resolution to success is more important than any other one thing.”

The ability to block out the distractions of everyday life and concentrate on the instrument underlies our resolve to succeed. American author Kurt Vonnegut once claimed, “The secret to success in any human endeavor is total concentration.” When we play the horn, we must be reminded to block out the outside world and give the instrument the full mental attention it necessitates.

In our ongoing quests to improve on the horn, moments of doubt, or even failure, will undoubtedly occur. Instead of being discouraged, we can ameliorate these occasions and use them as learning experiences. As the Chinese philosopher Lao-Tzu avowed, “Failure is the foundation of success, and the means by which it is achieved.” Our response to adversity can propel us to the improvement we seek.

The manner in which we approach and maintain our goals in 2025 can determine the success and productivity of the year. I encourage all students to consider their commitment to practice, their focus, and their approach to failure to help them navigate the new year.

by Vidhurinda Samaraweera

From hunting calls to orchestral mainstay, the horn has found its way into various Western musical traditions. In European classical music, the horn's journey from natural harmonics to the modern double horn revolutionized performance, enabling chromatic precision and tonal flexibility that composers have exploited extensively. The horn's rich heritage in European classical music established fundamental playing techniques and repertoire that would influence its adoption globally. In the Americas, particularly in the United States, the horn found a new voice in jazz ensembles of the 1950s and 1960s, with pioneers like Julius Watkins and IHS 57 Featured Artist David Amram incorporating it into bebop and jazz. The instrument's versatility was further expanded through film scores and contemporary classical music, where composers like John Williams have showcased its evocative potential. However, the horn's journey in South Asia presents a rather different case of cultural adaptation and innovation. Historically, brass instruments in South Asian music primarily consisted of indigenous trumpets like the Kombu, along with colonial introductions like trumpet and trombone. The horn's integration into this rich musical landscape has been relatively recent, particularly in Sri Lanka's contemporary music scene. The current renaissance of horn in Sri Lanka merits some attention. What makes this musical confluence particularly noteworthy is how Sri Lankan composers and performers are adapting traditional Western horn techniques to accommodate South Asian musical expressions.

Sri Lankan music is closely associated with dancing. There are three main schools of dance in Sri Lanka: a) Kandyan Dancing, originating in Central Sri Lanka, b) Low-country Dancing, originating in the Southern parts of the island, and c) Sabaragamuwa tradition, originating in the Sabaragamuwa Province just below the Central Province. Kandy was the last royal capital of the country, so Kandyan dancing is recognized as the classical dancing style in Sri Lanka. Guru Chitrasena is a pioneer in Sri Lankan dancing who popularized these dances worldwide. (Learn more about Kandyan Dancing: (6) Chitrasena Dance Company at the Colombo Dance Platform - YouTube.)...

by Layne Anspach

Hello musicians!

Continuing with piano and wind repertoire, we will focus this month on Anton Rubinstein’s Quintet in F Major, Op. 55. Rubinstein was a Russian pianist, composer, conductor, and teacher. He was an exceptional pianist, and his recitals were big events. In 1862, he founded the St. Petersburg Conservatory. As a composer, Rubinstein wrote for a wide variety of genres: opera, symphony, concerti, songs, and chamber works.

The Quintet in F Major was written in 1855 while Rubinstein was on a solo tour. He also composed a piano quartet version, Op. 55a. The first movement, Allegro non troppo, starts with a call and response between winds and piano. The clarinet takes on the first melody with piano accompaniment. The horn and piano pass the second theme between each other before the rest of the winds join. The development is fragmented between winds and piano, although the piano part is present throughout, driving the section forward. The recap is accentuated with piano figurations, added to the return of the chordal winds. The movement ends with a flurry from the piano with chordal support from the winds. 

The first theme of the second movement, Scherzo: Allegro assai, is carried melodically by the piano. After the winds present the second theme, the piano waits to adopt it until the end of the scherzo section. The trio features bassoon and horn melodically with piano accompaniment. The scherzo returns unedited.

The horn, with piano support, is heard with a lyrical solo beginning the Andante con moto. The melody is passed from horn to the other winds as the movement continues. As expected, the piano takes a more prominent role as the movement progresses. Building up to a piano cadenza, the rhythmic pulse fluctuates through a forward push of the tempo. The opening theme is reprised by the piano leading to the soft conclusion.

In the final movement, Allegro appassionato, the piano begins alone, but shortly the clarinet joins with melodic content and remains the focus, only relinquishing to the horn for a short time. The second theme is characterized by a staccato style and dotted rhythms. The development is introduced by the piano with soft repeated chords which continue with fragmented wind commentary. The recap is worth a special listen, although it sounds as if it arrives too early! The key areas are still modulating with the first theme appearing in A-flat major, rather than the expected F major. F major is not restored until the second theme of the recap, which continues to build to a dramatic climax but is interrupted by the soft chords from the development. A final Presto brings the work to a typical rousing conclusion.

The reference recording is from Consortium Classicum’s album Anton Rubinstein: Octet, Op. 9 and Quintet, Op. 55 (Orfeo). The hornist on the album is Jan Schroeder.

Ein Waldhorn Lustig

by Aliyah Danielle, IHS 57 Featured Artist

Can you imagine stopping your vocabulary growth after learning just the basics of a language? This is essentially what happens when we focus too narrowly on one style of performance. As horn players, much of our work revolves around the classical tradition, mastering works from the orchestral and solo repertoire. But today’s music industry demands more. Expanding your “horn vocabulary” means developing the stylistic and technical tools required to play any type of music authentically and with confidence. In a diverse and ever-evolving musical landscape, versatility isn’t just an asset—it’s a necessity.

Expanding your horn vocabulary opens doors to new performance opportunities and creative collaborations. It allows you to connect with a wider audience and express yourself in ways that might otherwise be limited in a classical setting. For a long time, I felt like there was a wall between the horn etudes, excerpts, solos, and ensemble music I was studying at school and the soul, gospel, funk, and R&B music that I listened to otherwise. Exploring genres outside of the classical tradition on horn has amplified my artistry in a way I never thought possible, and it has been so meaningful to see the way that my small action of stepping away from the beaten path has inspired others to do the same. This column is a crash course in what I’ll cover in my workshop at this summer’s International Horn Symposium, where we’ll dive even deeper into how you can incorporate these ideas into your own teaching and practice.

Foundations

When I was in middle school, I attended a week-long summer band camp program at the Wisconsin Conservatory of Music. In addition to private lessons, we also had chamber and large ensemble sessions, music theory, rhythm, and harmony lessons. One of my teachers there, the late percussionist Cecilio Negrón, Jr., used to always repeat the phrase: “If you can say it, you can play it.” The bottom line in achieving a solid foundation is to develop your ear. Active listening and mimicking the greats is a practical first step to developing a solid foundation, and a good handle on aural skills will make this process feel more like play and less like a chore.

Start by immersing yourself in the music you want to learn. Whether it’s pop, folk, lo-fi, or rock, create playlists, study recordings, and transcribe solos to internalize the nuances. Be sure to sing these in addition to playing them on the horn! It is also important to consider variations in tone and articulation. Different genres call for different approaches, and experimenting with tone colors and phrasing can help you adapt and become comfortable with performing what may be deemed in the classical world as “uncharacteristic sounds.” Finally, embrace improvisation. Start small, like improvising with a major scale over a drone. You can slowly expand to different scales, patterns, and chord progressions as you find a comfort zone in realizing your own ideas and breaking free from the page.

Practical Tools and Resources

There are several practical tools and resources that make this exploration more approachable. There are many method books and play-along tracks that are tailored to specific styles, and you can find many of these online for free or at a very low cost. Some resources I’ve found helpful are Blues, Bossa, Bebop, and Beyond by Steve Schaughency and Darmon Meader, 12 Jazzy Etudes for Horn by Ricardo Matosinhos, The Modern Hornist by Giovanni Hoffer, From Classical to Jazz by Joshua Pantoja, and Thesaurus of Scales and Melodic Patterns by Nicolas Slonimsky.

You can also set up a jam or practice session with people who play other instruments or specialize in other genres. In grad school, I had the privilege of taking private lessons from a saxophonist, and it is by far the most impactful experience I’ve had in developing my musicianship. Working with people proficient in other genres gives you insight into stylistic authenticity that you can’t always get from reading sheet music alone. A good place to start branching out is by listening to musical theater, film and video game or pop music, as these genres typically bridge classical and contemporary techniques. Some of my favorite composers are Quincy Jones, Natalie Holt, Terence Blanchard, Ludwig Göransson, Stephen Schwartz, Ennio Morricone, and Alan Silvestri.

An Educator’s Perspective

I’ve heard from many colleagues that they have students who would be interested in playing music outside of the classical realm, but they don’t know how to help. Integrating diverse genres into your pedagogy can prepare students for a broader range of musical experiences. Even something as simple as expanding which scales and harmonic settings your students study is a great start. Play improvisation games in your studio classes and lessons. Analyze the stylistic and theoretical elements of a piece in a different genre. Try learning new songs by ear. Being vulnerable to try new things and model flexibility yourself will give your students permission to approach new ideas with curiosity and enthusiasm. Remember that the goal is not perfection—it is to explore and discover new ways of expressing a full range of musical ideas through our instruments.

Exploring beyond the classical realm challenges us to grow as musicians and opens the door to limitless creative possibilities. I encourage you to start small—choose one new genre to explore this month and see where it takes you. We will dive even deeper into this topic at the Symposium in June, and I hope to see you there!