This time last year I was putting the finishing touches on the materials for a stopped horn presentation at the annual Midwest Clinic, one of the world’s largest band and orchestra conferences. It was a wonderful experience, and I highly recommend it to anyone who has not attended. The number of concerts, clinics, and exhibitors is staggering, and the number of attendees is around 16,000 annually. With this year’s clinic just around the corner, I thought it might be interesting to take a look at the various horn-related presentations from the past several years. The Midwest Clinic has an extensive archive of handouts going back to 2000, and these materials can be downloaded for free (see below). If you weren’t able to attend any of these clinics, the handouts provide a good overview of the topics and concepts covered. Presentations on horn playing have been a frequent occurrence at the Midwest Clinic, although there aren’t any scheduled for this year unfortunately. Although the titles of the six clinics shown below vary widely, they all share the common goal of making the horn a more approachable, friendly instrument for band directors and their students. If you are a horn teacher and have an idea for a presentation, I strongly encourage you to write up a proposal and submit it for the 2013 Midwest Clinic. It is a wonderful event, and is a great place to network and meet new friends and colleagues. If you want to read more about my experiences at last year’s Midwest Clinic, check out parts 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5 of my report.

• 2011 (James Boldin) Stopped and Muted Horn: A Guide for Directors
• 2010 (Kristine Coreil) Transforming Trumpet Players into Horn Players
• 2009 (Abigail Pack) French Horn SOS! First Notes, Fundamentals, and Fixing It: Teaching Strategies and Resources Every Director Should Know for Their Beginning to College Level Horn Players (Handout not available)
• 2008 (Charles Gavin) Horn Pedagogy 101: The Nuts and Bolts of Teaching the Horn
• 2003 (Gary Reeves) T.A.M.E. Your Horn Section for a Better Sounding Band
• 2002 (Patrick Miles) Building a Better Band Through a Better Horn Section: The Five Quickest Ways to Improve Your Horns