The fall semester is swiftly approaching, and I for one am very excited to get started! I’m looking forward to reconnecting with my colleagues and students, and continuing with several projects from the summer. Here’s a brief list of some of the activities coming up this fall.

NACWPI/CMS Conference: Black Bayou Brass will be performing in November at the national conference of the National Association of College Wind and Percussion Instructors. This year the conference will be held in San Diego, CA, in conjunction with the College Music Society‘s national conference. We’re still narrowing down our program at this point, but our focus will be on American composers, including music by Jan Bach and David Sampson.

New Students: We’ll be welcoming two new freshmen into the growing ULM Horn Studio, and I look forward to getting to know them better during our work together. Required materials for freshmen horn players this year include Daily Routines for the Student Horn Player by Marian Hesse, and Ultimate Horn Technique, ed. by John Ericson. They are both great publications, and cover a number of essential techniques for horn playing.

New Faculty: Beginning this fall we will welcome a new member to the ULM brass faculty, Dr. James Layfield. Dr. Layfield will be taking over the low brass studios from Dr. Micah Everett, who recently accepted a position at the University of Mississippi. We wish both of them well in their new positions!

Orchestra Concerts: I’ll be playing in the horn sections of several orchestras this fall, including the Monroe Symphony andRapides Symphony. Repertoire for these orchestras will include Copland’s Appalachian Spring, Rossini’s Overture to Semiramide, Beethoven’s Eroica Symphony, and more. Another orchestra concert I’m looking forward to is with the Shreveport Symphony, where I’ll be subbing on third horn for a program including Brahms’s Academic Festival Overture and Dvorak’s Symphony No. 8.

More Recording, and a Recital: In December I’ll be recording the rest of the material for my Koetsier CD, including several pieces for horn and piano (Richard Seiler, pianist). In addition, I am planning a recital (date TBA) to feature a majority of the works from the recording (Horn/Piano Works, Sonata for Horn and Harp, etc.). Though the project is far from complete, it has been, and will continue to be, very exciting to watch it take shape.

As always, I am thankful to be teaching and performing alongside some wonderful students and colleagues. Here’s to a great semester!