So, this past weekend was the Northeast Horn Workshop held at the University of Delaware in Newark. By all accounts and all meanings of the word, it was a blast! Of course, anyone who has gone to these events knows that there are generally 2 sides to the events - the performances/masterclasses and the exhibits. In the case of this workshop, I must admit I spent a lot of time in the exhibits. However, I did check out a few of the concerts and masterclasses.
Sadly, our little group didn't arrive until 11 PM on Friday night, so we missed a few of the classes from that day. However, one of the more memorable masterclasses of the weekend had to have been the Phillie horn section masterclass. It was really interesting to see how this group of world-reknowned pros works together and plays. One of the most fascinating things that I picked up from this class was how dramatically different the section sounds when they move people around to different parts. Jeff and Jen have such different sounds but both lead the section quite well. To me, Denise, the new 4th horn of the section really shone as a great addition to the section. What a wonderful sound and an amazing ability to blend with any player.
A few of the other lectures recitals that we attended were quite cool, but it's difficult to "blog" about them without saying "well, you just had to be there." However, one unique session stood out. I wouldn't call it a masterclass or lecture, but it's not quite an exhibit. The IVASI room was something alltogether different. I got a chance to play in the IVASI room at IHS in Macomb this past summer for about 2 hours with Jim Decker and had a blast. This time I made my student do it. He sat in with some students from a "major" Northeastern school for music. Since he's a senior in high school and these were all upper level or grad students, he was a little intimidated.
The pieces that got put up on the IVASI screen were Mahler 1 and Don Juan. I know...no good horn parts at all... ;-) So, he was playing and doing it well but you could tell he was nervous. The kids in that room were playing great. However, I had to tell my student afterwards that he did do well and not to worry, he'd do that well soon too. I also had to tell him, if he played like they did in a real orchestra, he wouldn't get called back! Instead of blending and listening as a section, they all seemed to be competing with eachother to see who could play louder and higher. Pitch got out of control at high volumes and there was no concept of section blend!
I know....it's only the IVASI room - no big deal. I just don't want him thinking that he can go sit in an orchestra and play like that and expect to get called back. It wasn't good. There's a lot of emphasis on teaching young people to play loud and high, yet there seems to be a lack of emphasis on HOW to play loud as a section.
The final concert was great. It was a very eclectic mix of music with Alphorns, ensembles, soloists and great duets by Denise Tryon and Karl Pittuch. The performance by Jeff Lang's Temple horn studio was just cool! The performances by the young horn players that won the various competitions was inspiring and the duets by Denise and Karl were as solid as you could ask for.
In all, a great show. My only complaint was on the organization side of this event. The website didn't have an actual address for the school or the music building and there were no signs posted outside the buildings telling people that the horn workshop was there. Then, I and many others missed some of the events because their locations were changed at the last minute. For someone who likes to plan as much as possible in advance, this made me very uncomfortable. However, the young student helpers were great. They almost made up for the organization issues.
Next year's show is at Kendall Betts' place in NH. I don't think I'll be able to make that. It's just too far out of the way. :-( Of course, Brisbane's too far out this year, so I may be suffering horn-show withdrawl this time next year!
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Hello Jeremy,
ReplyDeleteI was interested to read your comments about the Workshop and I'm glad that it was a good experience for you. With regard to the changes in venues, this was in response to a larger than expected turnout, and changes were made to make participants more comfortable. The venues were originally scheduled with about half the number of actual attendees in mind, since it was only in the last few days leading to the conference that we got a clear idea of how many would attend. It is also useful to keep in mind that events such as these take place on busy university campuses where other activity continues in addition to the Workshop, so when we are flooded at the last minute with on-site registrations, some adaptations need to be made.
I only write this as clarification - I learned firsthand how work-intensive and complex the planning of an event like this can be - I hope the event was useful for everyone who attended, and I thank you for your participation.
John David Smith