The British Horn Society - News Archive 2003

Ifor James received an Honorary Doctorate from Robert Gordon University, Aberdeen on December 10, 2003. This is largely in recognition of his 27 years’ teaching at the NE Scotland School of Music within that city. For some time now it has been his one regular commitment in the UK, and he continued to commute to Aberdeen from Freiburg throughout the period, some years ago, when he was fighting off cancer. He is still teaching there, covering a wide range of students from school pupils coming for ‘top-up’ lessons to members of the Scottish Vienna Horn Ensemble – of whose instruments Ifor is indulgently tolerant. His past students from Aberdeen are also well represented in the profession, both in Scotland and in Europe. The Doctorate comes as a fitting reward for one of the profession’s leading figures, whose foreign residency has otherwise prevented his being acknowledged by the British honours system.

Leighton Jones, the UK agent for Engelbert Schmid horns, recently handed over Alfred Brain’s horn to the Royal Academy of Music, London on behalf of its owner, Bruce Craig. Dr Craig, a friend of the Brain family, had expressed a wish that Alfred’s Alexander single Bb horn should be displayed in the RAM’s York Gate Collection alongside the instruments of his nephew, Dennis, brother Aubrey and his teacher Adolf Borsdorf. The horn has accordingly been shipped over from the USA where Alfred lived from 1922 onwards.

The TransAtlantic Horn Quartet is to feature at a gala horn event hosted by the Birmingham Conservatoire on the weekend of June 21/22 2003. Two of the group's members, Michael Thompson and Richard Watkins will be familiar to readers but the two Americans, David Ohanian and Skip Snead are every bit as distinguished as their English colleagues. The venue for the event will be the Barber Institute, with its two recital halls and elegant public spaces.

The weekend promises a number of exciting performances and a wide range of workshops and classes. There will be recitals by members of the quartet as well as guest artists; opportunities to take part in massed blows and multi-horn music. The final concert will include a performance of Schumann's Konzertstück for four horns and orchestra with the TAHQ as soloists. Guest artists will include Jim Rattigan and Elspeth Taylor, the newly-appointed principal horn of the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra.

There will be a strong emphasis on teaching and discussion throughout the weekend. Quartet members - who are all as well known as clinicians and teachers as they are as soloists - will lead a variety of masterclasses and seminars, with plenty of opportunity for question-and- answer sessions. Topics they have suggested range from performance anxiety ("nerves"), to audition techniques, and how to develop a strong sense of relative pitch.

Tickets and further information about the weekend for participants as well as trade stands/exhibitors are available from Richard Shrewsbury, Education and Recruitment Manager, Birmingham Conservatoire, Paradise Place, Birmingham B3 3HG, Tel: 0121 331 7207, e-mail: richard.shrewsbury@uce.ac.uk

The TransAtlantic Horn Quartet will also be running a Summer Seminar at the University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa from June 8 to 14 2003. The course will feature seven days of intensive study and performance. Included in the daily schedule will be quartet coaching, masterclasses with the TAHQ members David Ohanian, Skip Snead, Michael Thompson and Richard Watkins, orchestra reading sessions and lectures/discussions. In addition there will be small group lessons, solo and ensemble performances, plus open rehearsals of, and opportunities to perform with, the TAHQ. Participants will stay in the Sheraton Four Points Hotel, which is on-campus. The total cost for the seven days is $650.00. Those interested to apply to Skip Snead at Box 870366, University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa, AL 35487-0366, USA.

Kerin Black has left the UK to take up the position of principal horn with the KwaZulu-Natal Philharmonic Orchestra in South Africa. Kerin first came to Britain from Virginia, USA in 1996 to study at the Royal Academy of Music and stayed on in the UK.

If you want to spend a week with inspiring teachers and horn players from all the Nordic countries and Europe, The Nordic Horn Workshop 2003 could be the thing. The workshop will be focusing on playing together in Horn quartets. There will be master classes, clinics, ensemble playing, concerts and lectures, plus instrument exhibitions and a tour to Tivoli in Copenhagen. The organisers welcome amateurs, students and professional horn players.
Time/Place: June 28th to July 5th 2003 at Musisk Center Askov, Maltvej 1, 6600 Vejen, Denmark. Teachers: American Horn Quartet: David Johnson, Geoffrey Winter, Charles Putnam and Kerry Turner. Frøydis Ree Wekre, Oslo; Ib Lanzky-Otto, Stockholm.
Contact: Den Danske Valdhornklub, C/o Thomas Elbro, Hoffmannsvej 22 st. th., DK-8220 Brabrand, Denmark or email kg@io.dk

Richard Watkins premiered a new concerto for Horn and Strings by Dominic Muldowney in early 2003. There were three performances, in Wolverhampton (February 14), Leeds (February 19) and Manchester (February 22).

British Horn Society vice-chairman Simon de Souza performed Richard Strauss’ First Horn Concerto in early February as part of a concert given by the Mid-Somerset Orchestra, conductor Martin Freke. The event took place in Wells Town Hall in front of a capacity audience, a number of whom were Simon’s own pupils. The review in the local paper reported that Simon "remained in control of a taxing solo part throughout, and displayed an impressive range, tone and degree of lip flexibility on an instrument that is notoriously difficult to master.",
Simon, who has been specialist horn tutor at Wells Cathedral School for 17 years, was delighted when the orchestra invited him to play Strauss 1, feeling that it was an opportunity to do something other than teach in the city.

Chris Larkin’s Engelbert Schmid F/Bb/Eb alto full triple horn was recently stolen while on delivery to the BBC at Maida Vale, London. The sterling silver instrument was on it way back from the manufacturer in Germany where it had been undergoing repair. Chris has been with the BBC Symphony Orchestra since 1979 and is also the director of the London Gabrieli Brass Ensemble.

Our congratulations go to British Horn Society chairman Hugh Seenan and his wife Zoe on the birth of their son, Matthew James. Matthew arrived on January 15, seven weeks premature, but we are told that he is doing well. He is said to have “a good pair of lungs” enabling him to make a lot of noise, like, in Hugh’s words, “his father.”

Elspeth Taylor took up the post of section principal horn with the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra in December 2002. She follows in the footsteps of Claire Briggs as the holder of arguably the most prestigious horn playing post to be held by a woman in the UK. Elspeth came to be noticed after arriving at the Guildhall School of Music to study with Richard Bissill, Jeff Bryant and Hugh Seenan. Like many other successful young players, she was originally coached by Simon de Souza.

Claire Briggs, the former principal horn of the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, is back behind the music stand and has recently been appointed the horn player for the Fine Arts Brass Ensemble. Claire, who was the subject of an interview in The HORN Magazine in July 1998, "hung up her horn" for the best part of two years, but started playing with the ensemble in April 2002. She takes over from Paxman Young Horn Player of the Year 2000 Neil Shewan, who found that his orchestral playing commitments were often clashing with the Fine Arts' own gig diary.

The Paxman Young Horn Player Competition 2002 was won by the Young Hungarian, Daniel Ember. He faced strong competition in the final from Tim Thorpe (U.K.), Marjolaine Goulet (Canada) and Zora Slokar (Switzerland). The eminent jurors (Timothy Brown, Adam Friedrich, Howard T. Howard, Simon Rayner, Michael Thompson and Froydis Ree Wekre) eventually judged Daniel's performance of the Glière Concerto to be the best. Daniel will receive a Paxman horn, which will be built specially for him. For further details visit the Paxman Horns website http://www.paxman.co.uk/pages/winner.html

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