The Horn Call Podcast

With https://ihs54.com/ coming up, I thought it would be a great time to talk about equipment! Join Arizona State University's Professor of Horn, John Ericson, and me for a deep dive into mouthpieces and more!

• Check out the Horn Notes Podcast: https://hornnotes.libsyn.com/ 
• Inner Diameter can make a big difference!
• Buying mouthpieces, then versus now.
• Laskey mouthpieces and inner diameter. https://www.laskey.com/ 
• What do the numbers on mouthpieces mean?
• What does it feel like to play on a larger inner diameter?
• “Thousandths of an inch really matter.”
• Old school mouthpieces and consistency/quality control
• John Stork article on mouthpieces
• Why you should own at least five mouthpieces.
• How to test a horn/mouthpiece at a conference.
• Precision and how it affects horn building. So many variables! Example: bell rim
• “It’s difficult to really hear yourself.”
• Always test the high B-flat!

My very special guest for Episode 22 is Julia Burtscher, Executive Director of the International Horn Society!

Julia Burtscher has been playing the horn for over 30 years and lives in Toledo, Ohio. She earned a BA in Music from the University of Cincinnati and later earned her MBA from the same institution. Julia has spent most of her career in the railroad software industry, and is delighted to be the new executive director of the IHS! 

Episode Highlights

• Julia’s path to becoming Executive Director of the IHS
• Working for the Cincinnati Symphony
• Railroads are complicated!
• “I never stopped playing…”
• “The horn is my stress relief…”
• Natural horn study
• Shoutout to Paul Austin
• Cincinnati sports teams
• What does the Executive Director do?
• Updated IHS Mission Statement
• How her experience in other careers helps her be an effective leader/administrator for the IHS, and how her training as a musician helps her succeed in other areas/careers.
• Experience as an amateur musician in the IHS
• Current and/or future initiatives for the IHS, and how IHS members can play a part

Episode 21 features Dr. Mike Harcrow, Professor of Horn at Messiah College, and the new editor of the IHS E-newsletter Horn and More.

• Episode Highlights
• Performing and teaching in Korea
• Auditioning for the Korean Symphony Orchestra
• “Those are all the things I love: horn, brass choir, and theory.”
• Playing injury
• Jeju Brass competition
• Kruspe Horns http://edkruspe.com/horn.html
• Horn and More E-Newsletter: Making the IHS more international
• “I’m a gear head!”
• “There’s something really lovely about the Kruspe horn”
• Shoutout to Dan Phillips!
• Shoutout to Pat Hughes!
• Bring back the Horn Call Annual
• “We can take ourselves too seriously…”

Dr. Mike Harcrow is a Texas native who holds music degrees from West Texas State University, the University of Miami, and the University of North Texas. For nearly fourteen years, Dr. Harcrow was an active performer and teacher in South Korea where he held faculty positions at Mokwon University in Taejon and at the Korean National University of Arts in Seoul; he was concurrently principal horn in the Korean Symphony Orchestra at the Seoul Arts Center. In the United States, he has been a member of the Amarillo Symphony Orchestra, the San Angelo Symphony Orchestra, the South Florida Symphony Orchestra, the Miami City Ballet Orchestra, and the Grant Park Symphony Orchestra, in addition to performing regularly with the Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra and the Memphis Symphony Orchestra, among others. He previously taught at Texas Woman’s University and Midwestern State University.

He currently performs with the Gettysburg Chamber Orchestra and the Pennsylvania Regional Ballet Orchestra, and, each summer, with the Classical Music Festival in Eisenstadt, Austria, and he is a frequent guest section player with the Harrisburg and York Symphony Orchestras. Dr. Harcrow is an artist representative for Kruspe Horns as well as holding the position of contributing editor for the International Horn Society E-Newsletter. He is founder of the Covered Bridge Brass (a community-service performing ensemble), manager of the Chesapeake Brass, and he is an active composer and adjudicator. At Messiah University, in addition to his teaching and coaching responsibilities, he performs with the Faculty Brass Quintet and manages both BrassCross and The President’s Brass, the university’s faculty-student brass ensembles.

My very special guest for Episode 20 is Dr. Jennifer Sholtis, Professor of Horn at Texas A&M University Kingsville, and the Host of IHS54. Join us for a conversation all about IHS54!

Episode Highlights

• About Dr. Sholtis and Texas A&M Kingsville
• “Never close any doors.”
• An introduction to South Texas.
• IHS54 facilities: https://youtu.be/2nIOpCWx6EU
• What attendees can expect at IHS54.
• Unique aspects of this year’s symposium
• King Ranch
• COVID Protocols during IHS54
• Please register for IHS54!
• Social areas during IHS54 - Lobby Cafe and Veranda After Dark
• IHS Competitions – watch for the deadlines!
• IHS54 Competitions – Jazz Horn, Natural Horn, University Horn
• Ensemble, Professional Horn Ensemble, University Horn Quartet,
• Professional Horn Quartet, Pre-University Competition
• Youth Days - August 5-6
• Shoutout to Marilyn Bone Kloss!
• Different “tracks” at IHS54 for Students, Amateurs, Professionals, Teachers, etc.
• Information for exhibitors – will be in same building as events
• IHS54 Sponsorships: Diamond, Platinum, Gold, Silver levels
• Advice for future symposium hosts
• Texas Barbecue and Mariachi Music!
• For more information, visit IHS54.com!
• Call for proposals! *Not fully accepted until person has registered for the symposium. Especially interested in youth-oriented and amateur-oriented presentations: warmup, technique, literature, etc. 

My guest for this episode of The Horn Call Podcast is Johanna Lundy, Assistant Professor of Horn in the Fred Fox School of Music at The University of Arizona, and Principal Horn of the Tucson Symphony. Johanna is also a member of the IHS Advisory Council and IHS Treasurer. Join us for a conversation about careers in (and out of) music, and the amazing skills that musical training teaches you.

Episode Highlights

• Studying with Richard Deane in high school
• Studying at Oberlin
• Aspen and Brevard Music Festivals in the summer
• Grad study at New England Conservatory
• You have to take a lot of auditions to be successful
• Moving to Arizona from New England
• Jobs outside of music
• Teaching opportunities – classroom teaching – managing a classroom is drastically different than private lessons.
• Working in development while also playing in the Tucson Symphony
• Running a non-profit is really hard!
• “Musicians have amazing skillsets.”
• For job searches, it’s “Can you figure out how to do the job,” not “Do you already know how to do the job?”
• “Working with young people is really inspiring.”
• Why a music degree is really awesome, no matter what it leads to.
• Balancing a teaching and orchestra job.
• A lot of musicians would learn a lot from holding a day job. We forget how much stuff is taken care of for us.
• Explaining what musicians do to non-musicians – “working on deadline.”
• Band directors work so hard!
• IHS AC Council Member and Treasurer

Welcome to 2022 everyone! My guest for the first episode of the New Year is Larry Williams!

Hornist Larry Williams has distinguished himself as a multifaceted performing and recording artist, teacher and administrator. Williams is currently Principal Horn of American Studio Orchestra, Black Pearl Chamber Orchestra, Sphinx Symphony Orchestra, and a member of the Lyric Brass Quintet, Rooftop Wind Quintet, and Rodney Marsalis Philadelphia Big Brass. 

Williams formerly served as Principal Horn of The New World Symphony Orchestra and has performed with the Baltimore, Pittsburgh, and San Francisco Symphony Orchestras, among others. His wide range of musical styles include: solo & chamber repertoire, orchestral, jazz, contemporary, film, and commercial music.  

Williams has performed on tours of the US, Russia, China, Japan, and UK, and has performed with Frank Sinatra, Ray Charles, Arturo Sandoval, and others. An active soloist and recitalist, Williams has premiered and recorded several horn concerti including: Concerto for Horn and Wind Ensemble by composer Thomas Bough, Black Forest Concerto for Horn and Orchestra by composer James Schroeder, and has recorded several solo and chamber music albums.

Equally passionate about education, Williams currently serves as Adjunct Professor of Horn at Washington Adventist University, and is the Director of DMV Horn Academy. Williams served on the faculty of The Peabody Conservatory, Florida International University, and served as Assistant Vice Provost for Faculty Affairs at Johns Hopkins University. Larry Williams is a Yamaha Performing Artist/Clinician, and performs exclusively on Yamaha Custom Horns.

• Episode Highlights
• Learning what a Provost does/moving into an Administrative position at Johns Hopkins
• Returning/transitioning back to teaching and playing: “Repaying my dues”
• Compared to the old days of online teaching, Zoom is really nice!
• Upcoming performances
• Gateways Festival Orchestra: https://www.gatewaysmusicfestival.org/
• American Studio Orchestra
• Skills from music that helped in his administrative work and vice versa
• Collaborative skills!
• “I’ve learned to listen to my inner voice when it talks to me.”
• Horn players are resilient, curious people.
• “I had no idea you could major in music…”
• Auditioning for the New World Symphony
• Discovering that what works for him is doing a variety of different things – teaching, orchestral playing, chamber music, etc.
• Recruiting strategies and philosophies: you have to think long term, invest in the faculty, make sure the faculty are buying in and taking ownership of the recruiting process; get the students out and about–exposure to potential students
• “The IHS made me feel like I was part of a big horn-playing family.”

My guest for the final episode of 2021 is Dr. Daren Robbins, Instructor of Horn at Mahidol University in Thailand, and the creator of hornexcerpts.org

Daren Robbins has been on the faculty of the College of Music at Mahidol University (Bangkok, Thailand) since 2008, where he teaches horn, brass literature and pedagogy, coaches chamber music, and performs with BrassArts Bangkok, the Mahidol Faculty Woodwind quintet, and the Thailand Philharmonic Orchestra. He is also an active member of the International Horn Society where he serves as Regional Coordinator for Thailand. For ten years, he served as Editor of the IHS Online Music Sales program. Daren maintains an active and multi-faceted performance career, and has conducted solo recitals and masterclasses at universities throughout the U.S. and Asia as well as performed and presented at International Symposiums in Australia, Europe and the U.S. He is the creator of the website hornexcerpts.org, which has become the most frequently visited horn-related website on the internet.

Episode Highlights

• Moving to Thailand, teaching at Mahidol University
• “Different, in a refreshing way”
• HornPure horn ensemble
• Shoutout to the American Horn Quartet!
• Enthusiasm for classical music
• Performing with the Thailand Phil and being the orchestra manager
• Hosting the London Symphony and Berlin Philharmonic
• “It’s easy to get everybody to agree something needs to be changed, but it’s quite difficult to get them to agree how to change it.”
• Orchestra librarians
• “It’s not enough anymore to teach students how to play the Strauss Concerto.”
• https://www.aubreybergauer.com/about
• https://orchestraexcerpts.com/horn
• https://www.hornrep.com/ 
• https://hornoperaproject.org/ 
• Remember cassette tapes?
• Other horn excerpt websites
• Shoutout to IHS webmaster Dan Phillips!

Join us for a very special Holiday Bonus Edition of The Horn Call Podcast! This interview with Gail Williams was recorded at the 2019 Western Horn Festival hosted by Dr. Jena Gardner at Western Illinois University.

My guest for Episode 16 is J. Bernardo Silva, a member of the Orquestra Sinfónica do Porto Casa da Música, horn professor at the University of Aveiro and at Espinho’s Professional Music School, and Vice-President of the International Horn Society!

Episode Highlights

• Trompas Lusas Horn Quartet
• Balancing work and family life
• IHS 53 presentations in English, Portuguese, and Spanish!
• Goal of presenting more IHS content in other languages
• Why he got involved with the IHS - being part of the “club!" 
• What do you see as the future of the IHS?
• “There will always be a role for the IHS.”
• Musical role models
• Studying with Ab Koster
• Portuguese composers for horn: https://www.editions-ava.com/en/
• Warm-up routine available at https://www.hornsociety.org/marketplace/oms 

Join me for a conversation with Radegundis Tavares, President of The International Horn Society!

Radegundis Tavares has been developing a career of important accomplishments. He was the first president of the Brazilian Horn Association and has recorded the first CD of a Brazilian brass player playing standard European classical repertoire, entitled “Universal”, as much as the first CD featuring improvisation on the Horn by a Brazilian player, entitled “Radegundis Tavares”. Radegundis hosted the first two Brazilian Horn Meetings and the first International Horn Symposium in Latin America – IHS49. 

He has been premiering many works for Horn in a great variety of formations, specially Brazilian Music from distinguished Brazilian composers such as José Ursicino da Silva “Maestro Duda”, J. Orlando Alves, Marcílio Onofre, Liduino Pitombeira and Eli-Eri Moura – many of these Works were dedicated to Radegundis. He has acted as a soloist playing traditional repertoire, virtuosic works and Brazilian popular music. 
Radegundis did his under-graduate and graduate courses in the Federal University of Paraiba and had as his Horn professor Cisneiro de Andrade and as his research supervisor Luis Ricardo Silva Queiroz. During his master degree Radegundis started to research about the Horn learning and the performance of Brazilian popular music in this instrument and many publications were made from this project. 

Besides his performances as soloist and chamber musician, Radegundis played as a guest with many orchestras. Since 2008 he is full time professor of Horn at the Federal University of Rio Grande do Norte and has released in June of 2019 his third solo CD entitled “Sounds from my home”. Radegundis’ recordings can be found on main streaming platforms. 

Episode Highlights

• Current teaching and performing positions
• Why Radegundis got involved with the IHS
• Plans he has for the future of the IHS
• Learning how to promote yourself, get closer to the public
• Making the IHS more international
• “Remember why you got involved with the IHS.”
• Playing Tips, How he stays in shape as a horn player with a busy schedule
• Hosting the 49th International Horn Symposium
• Forming the Brazilian Horn Association
• Music education in Brazil
• Recordings
• Website: https://radegundistavares.com/
• Crossing over into popular music
• “The most important thing is to be together with people.”
• Shoutout to Marcus Bonna!
• Brazilian composers to check out!