[This is the third and final post in a series related to events at the upcoming 47th International Horn Symposium. You can read the first one here, and the second one here.]

I will round out my week at the 47th International Horn Symposium with a presentation titled “An Introduction to Solo Duet Training for Horns.” In addition to providing some background and more information about my new book from Mountain Peak Music, I’ll also demonstrate several excerpts, assisted by Dr. Gina Gillie from Pacific Lutheran University. Here’s an overview of the main topics to be covered in the lecture.

• What is Solo Duet Training for Horns?
• Pedagogical Duets: A Brief Historical Background
• Contemporary Pedagogical Duets
• Creating Solo Duet Training for Horns, with Demonstrations
• Suggestions for Use, Other Comments

My goal for this presentation is to hopefully go beyond just plugging the new book – although I will have a few copies for sale afterwards! Duet playing has a long history in horn pedagogy, and I think attendees will come away with a better understanding of the history and practical applications of these materials, both past and present. There are lots of great online resources with sheet music and background information on historical horn duets, including the PDF library at Horn Matters and the horn page at IMSLP. In addition to these, one other site I plan to mention is “Plays Well with Others: Duets in Instrumental Treatises,” an online exhibit at the Yale University Music Library (curated by Eva M. Heater). If you haven’t visited this exhibit yet, make sure to check it out because it’s really well done!

As I’ve mentioned in previous posts, creating these duets was a great learning experience, and at the very least I want to share some of the information gleaned along the way. The presentation handout will contain lots of examples, including some free samples from the book and suggestions for creating your own duets.

The presentation is scheduled for Friday, August 7th at 9:30 a.m. in the Grand Rehearsal Hall at the Colburn School. I’m really looking forward to presenting, and hope that you can join us. To close out this post, here’s a video demonstrating excerpts from a couple of the duets.