Kristina Mascher-Turner: Who was the first person to put a horn in your hands all those years ago in Costa Rica? What was it about the instrument that fascinated you?

Hugo Valverde: The first person who introduced me to the horn was Francisco Molina, the general manager of the “Escuela de Música de Barva” back in 2003, in my hometown, Barva. He insisted that I chose the horn because it had been a while since someone wanted to play it. My very first horn teacher was Daniel León Rodríguez, who is also from Barva.

KMT: Speaking of Costa Rica, what is it like to study and make a living in music in your home country? There seems to be a rich tradition of community bands and ensembles, for instance.

HV: There are several small music schools that are part of a program called “SINEM: Sistema Nacional de Educación Musical (National System of Musical Education)”, but they are only to start the students into music. If their desire is to undertake a more intense course of studies, they’re going to have to gain entrance into the two main music schools in Costa Rica: “Escuela de Artes Musicales” of the University of Costa Rica, or the National Music Institute; both schools located in San José, the capital of Costa Rica. Many of these schools are located in remote areas of the country. This is quite remarkable because they offer an opportunity to all those students to learn more about the music world and its wonders, but they don’t offer college level teaching. This turns into an obstacle for them to keep up with their academic studies, especially if they live far away from San José.

Making a living as a musician in Costa Rica is not that easy because the performing opportunities are quite limited. If I were to provide an example as a classical musician, it is definitely difficult to get a stable and long-term job, since the only professional and full-time orchestra in the country is the National Symphony Orchestra of Costa Rica. The employees who work there are public ones, meaning that they will retire according to the plans of the government, not when they want. This job provides immense stability because you’re basically a government employee, but it's the main reason why so many other musicians can’t aspire for a job like that right out of school. This was one of the reasons why I left Costa...

My name is Jordin Andrews. I am 22 years old and will be graduating this spring with a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Akron. My interest in music started in the fourth grade when I joined band and started to play the trumpet. In eighth grade I had the opportunity to switch to horn, which I eagerly accepted. From then on, playing the horn not only became a hobby but a passion – it didn’t take long for me to realize that I wanted to make playing horn my career. As I grew older, I joined every youth orchestra I possibly could – the Canton Youth Symphony Orchestra my sophomore year, the Akron Youth Symphony Orchestra and Cleveland Youth Wind Symphony my junior year, and the Cleveland Orchestra Youth Orchestra my senior year. In addition, I performed in nearly every local honor band I could, including the OMEA honor band and even won my high school’s concerto competition. I won the competition with Timothy Jackson’s Etude (Don’t Make it Bad), a piece I was totally enamored with at the time. That same year I was given the opportunity to travel with the Cleveland Youth Wind Symphony on their tour of Europe and perform as a soloist.

After graduating from high school, I decided to attend the University of Akron because I had earned enough scholarships there to pay for my tuition. My studies went very well for a couple of years – I excelled at music theory and actively participated in every ensemble and competition I could. But, during a scholarship competition in 2018, I noticed that I was shaking. Shaking wasn’t new to me, however; in fact, my doctor had even prescribed me a drug to help calm my shakes. But this time was different, the medication didn’t seem to help calm my tremor. I couldn’t figure out why this was happening but from that moment on, the shakes continued to persist severely throughout my daily life.

At the point of frustration, sometime later, I decided to seek out medical advice. It took nearly a year to receive...

My horn journey started when I was 10 years old; a little child from Hong Kong who had never travelled out of the country was given a chance to perform at the 40th International Horn Symposium in Denver. This trip to Denver marked the beginning of my musical journey. The opportunity to “share the stage” with the American Horn Quartet and Frank Lloyd in the same concert was inspirational, unforgettable and honorable. The music on that day touched my heart and soul, and I can still hear it today.

After that day, I was given the motivation to take the horn even more seriously. I continued my study at the Hong Kong Academy for the Performing Arts and was very fortunate to have my mentor, Mr. Joe Kirtley, to guide and lead me in the following years. After 10 years of hard work and fun times, we both decided it was time for me to take the next step. In 2015 I was honored to be selected as a Kovner Fellow at The Juilliard School and studied with Erik Ralske. The 4 years of study in New York gave me a new perspective. With so many wonderful orchestral performances in New York, I had many opportunities to broaden my horizon. In 2017 and 2018, I was chosen as a member of the Tanglewood Music Center orchestra where I had the opportunity to work with the wonderful Boston Symphony musicians and many amazing artists. In 2019, due to an elite accelerated program, I completed both my Bachelor and Masters degrees of Music at the Juilliard school. My 4 years in America gave me a good sense of American music culture and horn playing styles. At that point, my hope was to experience and learn more about European music culture. I was very fortunate to be given the chance to study in Berlin at the Hochschule für Musik Hanns Eisler Berlin. The years in Berlin have given me an additional perspective in horn playing and music, and I can’t wait to continue to explore more in my journey. My dream is to inspire young children by integrating what I have learned and experienced and by sharing my music with them in the future. 

New Horn and More team member

Hi everyone! My name is Serina Turrieta, and I am a sophomore at New Mexico State University. I was born and raised in Silver City, New Mexico. Silver City is a very small town where I had very little exposure to the world of horn. Even getting lessons from my horn professor was a four-hour round trip.

The International Horn Society opened my eyes to how vast and extraordinary the horn world is. My introduction to IHS was in high school with the incredible opportunity to attend the 50th International Horn Symposium in Muncie, Indiana. Stepping onto the beautiful Ball State campus and seeing so many great musicians, all with horn cases, was unreal. I was completely astounded by all of the wonderful horn players, and getting to hear their performances is something I will never forget. It’s one of my most valuable experiences because it cemented my choice to pursue a career in horn.

My favorite part about the IHS is the accessibility. The website has so much information and so many valuable resources to help horn players of any level. Through social media and this network of horn players we’ve created, even young students in small towns can communicate and learn so much more than was possible ever before. I love finding warmups, technical exercises, and new and different ways to improve. Because of the IHS publications, we’re all able to stay connected. Not feeling alone as a musician is crucial, especially in the current situation. This is why I’m so appreciative to be a part of this community and so excited about becoming the newest member of the Horn and More team! I look forward to helping share information and new ideas in this newsletter to benefit horn players like myself.

Aviram Freiberg, Israel

About myself: Multi-faced musician – horn player, singer, composer, teacher, researcher and entrepreneur. I studied horn performance at the New England Conservatory with Richard Mackey and Jonathan Menkis. I obtained M.A in Musicology from Bar-Ilan University (Israel) and currently I am a PhD candidate in Musicology at the University of Haifa (Israel). As a horn player I played professionally for over 23 years until I retired in 2016. I played with the Ra'anana Symphonette as Assistant principle, low horn with the Jerusalem Symphony Orchestra and 4th horn and 3rd/Assistant principle with the Haifa orchestra. In 2017 I played Yehezkel Braun horn Concerto with the Havalsymphoniker, Falkensee, Germany. I teach horn privately and in local music schools. I am a recipient of America-Israel Cultural Foundation's scholarships. As a baritone singer I performed as soloist with choirs, orchestras and in opera and recitals. I composed 5 operas, numerous songs, orchestral and chamber pieces. Established Haifa's Theatre-Opera group dedicated to performance of contemporary chamber operas.

Under the global health pandemic and the restrictions it has brought to our lives it has been extra demanding to maintain performance schedules. Concerts were cancelled, orchestras ceased their rehearsals and concert series. However, despite the challenging circumstances, some horn related musical activities took place in Israel, both at the professional and the amateur scenes.

Horn players of the Israeli Camerata, Principle Alon Reuven and second Ruth (Ruti) Rozman-Varon performed Beethoven sextet op. 81b for 2 horns and string quartet in a chamber music concerts held in Jerusalem at the Birgham Young University branch, with their colleague from the Israeli Camerata.

Live from Jerusalem - January 03, 2021 - YouTube

Alon and Ruti were soloists with their orchestra, the Israeli Camerata earlier that year playing Rosetti/Haydn Concerto for 2 horns.

Haydn...