Greetings,

The 50th International Horn Symposium is fast approaching. I am planning on having a few special items for those who purchase full week registrations before July 1. The program book is now being laid out with the bios, ads and event schedules. There are close to thirty world premieres at the horn symposium this summer. Congratulations to all the artists who are contributing their time and money in commissions, travel and supporting artist coordination for the wonderful tributes to “The Golden History of the Horn." All the events and information can be seen online at IHS50.org. Please plan your lodging as the Courtyard Marriott is already sold out August 2nd thru the 4th. Vendors and on-campus housing registration will close July 1.  Registration will open up at 3 p.m. on July 29 in the lobby of Sursa Hall. 

We have a special treat for you in this month’s Interview of the Month column - members of the jury from the 2018 Prague Spring horn competition answer our questions in this video. What is Radovan Vlatković’s personal connection to Prague? Where does Jindřich Petráš find the energy to listen to so many competitors in a row? Which member of the jury is a former student of jury member André Cazalet? What, according to Zsabolcs Zempleni, is the value of doing competitions? How does it feel for Kerry Turner to return to Prague as a jury member after having won a prize himself in 1987? How does Ondřej Vrabec advise people to prepare for competitions? Hear the answers directly from their own mouths, in English, French, and Czech (subtitles in English). Next time, it might be you picking up that prize, so pay attention! - KMT

English version
by Louis-Philippe Marsolais

J’ai commencé à aller au Domaine Forget comme étudiant à l’âge de 18 ans, il y a déjà trop longtemps ! Ce lieu magique, enclavé entre les montagnes de Charlevoix et le fleuve St-Laurent m’a énormément fait évoluer comme musicien, interprète et être humain. J’y ai passé, dans les années qui ont suivi, plusieurs des plus beaux moments musicaux de ma jeunesse, où j’y ai rencontré les Hermann Baumann, John Zirbel, Vincent Cichowicz, Roger Bobo, travaillé avec  Guy Carmichael et Eugene Rittich, joué en musique de chambre avec Lance Nagels et Geoff Thompson. J’ai aussi tissé des liens avec de jeunes musiciens plein de talent et d’ambition qui allaient devenir plus tard des collègues – Julie-Anne Drolet et Gabe Radford.

Pour beaucoup de musiciens jeunes et moins jeunes, le Domaine Forget représente bien plus qu’un endroit où on reçoit des cours. Sa situation géographique, ce lieu isolé des grands centres (avec un internet intermittent), où le fleuve se transforme à chaque jour en des millions de reflets dorés ou bien en un nuage de brouillard dense nous fait réaliser la force de la nature, autant que la beauté qui y est attachée. L’expérience culinaire de la cafétéria est indescriptible (!) et permet à l’occasion d’initier les étrangers à la poutine de Chez Ginette. Les soirées au bord du feu ou bien au « party barn » permettent de fraterniser avec les musiciens d’un peu partout, avec en toile de fond un quatuor de cuivres graves qui rejoue encore une fois le dernier mouvement de la  8^e de Bruckner jusqu’à tard dans la nuit. Peu importe qu’on assiste au lever du soleil sur le fleuve ou pas,  on réalise que peu importe la longueur de la nuit, on réussit toujours à passer une autre journée productive, avec des classes de maîtres, des cours, des répétitions de musique de chambre, des lectures de symphonies, des concerts et autres ateliers. Et à la fin du stage, on a certainement besoin de quelques semaines pour intégrer tous ces apprentissages !

English version

El Curso Internacional para Corno Natural y Moderno comienza como un proyecto de enseñanza del Corno en Venezuela en el año 2010.

Desde su origen, se presenta como una iniciativa que ayuda al crecimiento artístico de los alumnos y aporta un evento de talla internacional para el desarrollo cultural del país con clases, charlas, conciertos y otros eventos artísticos relacionados.

Se pretende, una vez al año, contar con la presencia de músicos de altísimo nivel para la enseñanza especializada de los instrumentos y ofrecer a través de este proyecto un aporte a la cultura musical del país

En esta primera edición en Panamá, estaremos brindando, a través de conciertos de alumnos y maestros invitados, clases magistrales, conferencias y otras actividades relacionadas, una experiencia académica intensiva para los participantes al curso y una inolvidable propuesta cultural al público en general.

Los participantes contarán con todas las comodidades en instalaciones adecuadas, equipadas con tecnología de punta, para recibir el máximo de información durante 4 días consecutivos de clases magistrales, conferencias y conciertos,

Los estudiantes recibirán certificado de participación avalado por la Facultad de Bellas Artes de la Universidad de Panamá.

Panamá por su ubicación privilegiada es uno de los centros turísticos y de negocios más importante de la región que cuenta con un excelente sistema de conexiones aéreas y comunicación marítima hacia el mundo entero. Es reconocida por sus bellísimos escenarios naturales y cuenta además con múltiples opciones de alojamiento y variedad gastronómica

Su creciente y pujante desarrollo económico, social y cultural hace de este país un destino muy atractivo.

PARA MÁS INFORMACIÓN SOBRE EL EVENTO, DIRIGIRSE A: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Thoughts from Richard King (Cleveland Orchestra), David Cooper (Berlin Philharmonic), and Jeff Nelsen (Canadian Brass).

Richard King Cleveland Orchestra

As summer begins, we horn players may find ourselves gently slipping into the familiar seasonal routines.  Students who are happily having a break from the classroom may also have an interruption of private lessons or not have access to their school-owned instruments.

Teachers and performers, novices or experts, amateurs and pros could have an entirely different schedule from the rest of the year—Maybe we have some outdoor band concerts.  Maybe we travel to a chamber music festival. Maybe our orchestras move into their summer home. Maybe we teach at clinics. Maybe we have a various combination of all these things.

Probably the one thing that most of us will have at one point or another this summer is- a BREAK from HORN PLAYING!!! Whether or not it is intended, all of us will find ourselves with time away from our instrument now and then.  Family vacation?  Road trip?  Cruise? Didn’t get around to it? Didn’t feel like it?

As a thirty-year veteran of the Cleveland Orchestra, I have seen most every situation that has caused me to hit the pause button and find myself on some type of horn playing hiatus.  Most common to me however, especially as a twenty-year principal horn player, was the INTENTIONAL hiatus! My whole being would cry out for relief from the grind, both physical and mental.  With my orchestra work schedule I eventually fell into the habit of taking two larger yearly breaks of about two weeks each.  In June and December at the end of a long run of concerts, I would put my Conn 8D in the case and put it out of my mind.  I closed down those weeks in my schedule book and very rarely took outside work, saving those rare exceptions for very special opportunities.

At first I would wonder if I would remember how to play at all when I returned to my instrument. Would all my skills be gone forever? How long to get back to normal--- a day? A week? A month? Would I be able to find a fingering chart? Would the valves be frozen? Where did I leave my Kopprasch and Gallay books?

by Paul Meng, Chinese Horn Society

A masterclass of the Second China Horn Festival, took place at Jinbao Theater in summer of 2016

The Fourth Jinbao International Music Festival will take place at the Jinbao Musical Instrument Factory, Tianjin City, Jinbao County, China. This festival is financially supported by Jinbao Musical Instrument Manufacturers. The festival includes horn, trumpet, trombone and tuba, clarinet, percussion, and saxophone. Each instrument’s festival takes place at a different time of year. Jinbao Musical Instrument Manufacturers established this festival in the summer of 2015.  It is great and we benefit from the generous sponsorship of Jinbao Musical Instruments Manufacture and the local government. We all thank them very much!

The Chinese Horn Society was not a part of the first Jinbao festival in 2015 but did join the 2^nd one in 2016. The CHS held the 1^st China Horn Festival by itself in 2006, so Jinbao and CHS both agreed that the 2016 CHS horn festival should be called the 2^nd China Horn Festival. The 3^rd Jinbao festival was in 2017 but featured other instruments without horn.

The Third China Horn Festival will be from Aug. 8^th -14^th, 2018.  The artists we have invited, are Felix Klieser from Germany, Jukka Harju from Finland, Frank Lloyd from the UK, Javier Bonet from Spain, and a special post-retirement appearance by the American Horn Quartet. We also invited Ms. Kristina Mascher-Tuner as IHS official, to represent the IHS and help promote IHS membership in China. There will be a few more well-known players to be decided to invite and post later.

There will be artist concerts every evening as well as local master classes every day. Participants will enjoy and learn different styles of playing. Some of the top symphony players from China will also play concerts and have all kinds of teaching classes.

by Lydia Van Dreel

Adult avocational horn players have lots of opportunities to play: community bands, community orchestras, and horn clubs, to name a few. Lately, new summer band/orchestra camps are all the rage with adult musicians who want an intensive, immersive experience in the summertime. Midsummer Musical Retreat, hosted by Whitman College in Walla Walla, Washington, is one such summer camp that hosts about 200 adult campers for one week each summer. Performance activities include Symphony Orchestra, Wind Ensemble, Choir, and Chamber Music. Students can also sign up for a wide range of elective classes, from barbershop quartet, to music theory, to drum circle, to gentle yoga. Along with plenty of enriching music and music-related activities, there are a wide range of social activities as well, making this week long musical immersion and wonderfully fulfilling summer camp opportunity for adults. As the horn instructor for the week, I am blessed to teach a crew of horn aficionados, many of whom come back year after year to enjoy all of the offerings of the camp, including a daily horn sectional and horn ensemble readings. New campers are quickly embraced and encouraged in the horn group!

The environment is very supportive and non-competitive. Students of all levels and abilities are welcome. When registering, students fill out a self-assessment form to help the camp directors place students in desired ensembles. Everyone is there to learn and have fun! For more information on Midsummer Musical Retreat (MMR):

http://musicalretreat.org/

By Łukasz Łacny

IDEA OF THE FESTIVAL:

The CORNO Brass Festival is an unique event comprising master classes, chamber concerts, lectures, exhibitions of instruments, individual and group lessons, tuition for both professional as well as hobby musicians, number of events opened for the audience, which will take place in diverse venues of the cities of Zielona Góra and Żagań. The Festival will feature outstanding and world-renowned musicians, wide and diversified audience and shall be the promotion of the beautiful city of Zielona Góra.

ORGANIZERS:

Three young citizens of Zielona Góra organize the Festival. They all started their musical education in the horn class of Iwan Moroz. It’s here, in Zielona Góra, where they found and developed their interest in music. After a few years of musical education at the leading European Conservatories, where they studied with some of the best tutors, they decided to come back to their hometown to share their knowledge and experience with the young generation.

by Christine Chapman (IHS Area Representative, Germany)

The 2018 International Summer Courses for New Music in Darmstadt (Germany), from July 14 till 28, present an exclusive academy for all brass players. The faculty is Christine Chapman- horn, Marco Blaauw-trumpet, Mike Svoboda-trombone, and Melvyn Poore-tuba. They offer their expertise and share their experience in the performance of contemporary repertoire, improvisation and the development of new repertoire. They teach playing technique, art of performance,  practice and learning methods and offer healthy experiments with sound. This academy is embedded in the International Summer Courses and therefore guarantees the exchange with many composers and fellow students.

The summer courses offer a unique chance to collect new ideas, develop new projects, hear many concerts, and to meet an international network of musicians. All in all, an incredible opportunity to widen your horizons!

It is still possible to sign up for this year's academy. Please contact Christine Chapman (This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.), the academy coordinator Marco Blaauw (This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.) or visit the website at www.internationales-musikinstitut.de/en/ferienkurse/

by Angelo Bonaccorso (IHS Area Representative - Italy)

 English version

Fervono i preparativi per la terza edizione del Festival Cornistico dell'Etna dal 18 al 22 agosto 2018 promosso e organizzato dalla FEBASI (Federazione Bande Siciliane), da due anni si forma una vera e propria famiglia di cornisti provenienti da tutte le parti d'Italia e dall'estero in una cornice stupenda che è quella del paesaggio etneo tra boschi e terra vulcanica.

Quest'anno ci saranno grandi ospiti internazionali tra cui Hervè Joulain (primo corno solista della Orchestre Nationale de France) Guglielmo Pellarin (primo corno solista dell'Orchestra dell'Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia), Giovanni Hoffer (3 corno del teatro comunale di Bologna e Jazzista Internazionale), Angelo Bonaccorso (3 corno del Teatro Massimo V.Bellini di Catania) e il direttore d'orchestra Antonino Manuli. Qui potrete vedere il loro video di invito al Festival:

IL PROGRAMMA

Sarà un programma ricco di eventi e manifestazioni a partire dal concerto di inaugurazione che entrerà nella storia del Festival! Sarà il concerto da solista effettuato dal mitico Giovanni Hoffer Jazz Horn accompagnato da una nota Big Band del territorio catanese la HJO Jazz Orchestra in un anfiteatro meraviglioso a Zafferana Etnea. È la prima volta che un cornista si esibirà da solista con una Jazz Big Band.

IHS Members Only: Bonus Video - Javier Bonet

Still waiting to join the IHS? Do it today!

English version

Mi admirado y querido amigo Ab Koster me anima a escribir un apunte pedagógico para la Newsletter de la International Horn Society.

Me gustaría hablar de la importancia que tiene para mí, el conocimiento de la trompa natural y sus fundamentos acústicos para el estudio y el desarrollo tanto técnico como musical del trompista contemporáneo.

Como muchos sabéis, en la Escuela Superior de Música de Catalunya (ESMUC) de Barcelona, donde desarrollo mi labor pedagógica desde hace casi 20 años,  enseñamos tanto la trompa moderna como la trompa natural. Además en el caso de  esta última, puede ser abordada  no sólo como complemento de la formación en trompa moderna sino como instrumento principal.  (www.esmuc.cat)

En este breve comentario y en el vídeo que  se adjunta, (que recomiendo visionar pues es de gran ayuda para comprender todo mejor) trataré de explicar por qué considero que hoy en día es imprescindible para cualquier profesional conocer estos fundamentos.