Today we had the opportunity to work with some of the talented students here at Mahidol University (the name is pronounced “Ma-hee-don” – sorry for not saying this earlier!) I heard five students play in the horn master class, and they were all extremely well prepared, regardless of age or experience level. Daren is clearly doing some amazing things here, and it shows in the quality of his students. The works performed in the master class were:

Haydn, Concerto No. 1, 1st movement
Douglas Hill, Song Suite in Jazz Style, 1st movement
Krol, Laudatio
F. Strauss, Fantasie, Op. 2
F. Strauss, Concerto, Op. 8, 1st movement

It was particularly fun hearing Doug Hill’s piece again, which I’ve worked on, but never performed. Working with a student on it in the master class has inspired me to pull the piece back out and program it sometime. After the class some of the students asked if we could take a picture.

Shortly after the master class, we attended an encore performance by the ensemble Horn Pure, a horn octet which has been quite active over the last few years, and is quickly acquiring an international reputation. This performance was to thank the Dean of the College of Music at Mahidol for helping make the group’s trip to the 44th International Horn Symposium in Denton possible. I had heard great things about this group, and after hearing them live I can say that they definitely live up to their reputation! I also learned from Daren that the members of Horn Pure worked tirelessly to raise funds for their trip to the U.S., performing in a local mall in Bangkok for several hours each weekend for donations. Though in many respects Thai students don’t seem that different from college students elsewhere, they possess an incredible work ethic, especially when it comes to representing their country at the international level. I can’t say enough good things about this group, and I am excited to see where they go from here (how about a CD recording?) Here’s a picture from their concert.

We are more than halfway through our stay in Thailand, but we still have two more days of performing and teaching at other schools in the area. Tomorrow we will spend several hours at Silpakorn University – updates to come.