Day 2 of my time at the 47th International Horn Symposium was great. As I have an early morning rehearsal tomorrow for the University of Wisconsin Alumni ensemble, my summary tonight will be fairly brief. While most of yesterday was spent attending presentations and lectures, today I listened to several concerts and checked out a few exhibits. (Above image: the Hollywood Bowl, just prior to the evening’s LA Philharmonic concert.)

• Chamber Music Concert – Contemporary Works for Horn Some really wonderful and sensitive playing by Bill Scharnberg (University of North Texas), Katie Johnson (University of Tennessee), and Peggy Moran (University of Central Oklahoma). All three performed contemporary works; Scharnberg performed the premiere of Paul Chihara’s Willow Wood, along with Haydn’s Divertimento a tre. Johnson performed Ann Callaway’s Four Elements for horn and piano, a striking and very effective piece that really deserves to be played more. And Peggy Moran performed two charming works for horn and flute, including the premiere of Jason Barabba’s Visiting with Cecil Forsyth, 1914, on the occasion of the 101st publication of his book Orchestration. This piece utilized a narrator to read several descriptive and often humorous passages from the aforementioned orchestration text, with the instruments providing the musical demonstrations.
• Lecture Recital – Horn, Oboe, and Piano Trios in the Late 19th Century A very interesting presentation by Stephen Lawson (Marshall University) focused on the works of Adolphe Blanc, Carl Reinecke, and Heinrich Herzogenberg. The oboe and horn parts were both performed on period instruments, including a French piston horn.
• Chamber Music Recital More great playing on this concert! James Naigus (DMA graduate, University of Iowa), Patrick Smith (Virginia Commonwealth University), and Lisa Bontrager (Pennsylvania State University), premiered Naigus’s Landscapes for Horn Trio and Piano, and Peter Kurau (Eastman School) performed several new arrangements for horn, soprano, and piano. I especially enjoyed his arrangement of Schubert’s Der Hirt auf dem Felsen, Op. 129 (The Shepherd on the Rock), originally for clarinet, high voice, and piano.
• Lecture –  Compose Yourself: Exploring Composition for the Horn Player Gina Gillie (Pacific Lutheran University) gave a great presentation with encouragement, tips, and advice for horn players interested in exploring composition. It was great to catch up with Gina, and we will be performing several excerpts from my duet book Solo Duet Training for Horns on Friday.
• Evening Concert – “Hail the Mighty Horn” LA Philharmonic at the Hollywood Bowl A monster horn program featuring a new work by Bruce Broughton for 16 horns and Robert Schumann’s Konzertstück on the first half, and Richard Strauss’s Der Rosenkavalier Suite and Till Eulenspiegel’s Merry Pranks on the second half. The cast of this Hollywood horn concert was certainly star studded. Here’s a listing of the performers from the program book.

Bruce Broughton, Fanfare for 16 Horns (world premiere)

• John Cerminaro
• James Thatcher
• Ethan Bearman
• Amy Jo Rhine
• Brian Drake
• Kerry Turner
• Geoffrey Winter
• Charles Putnam
• Kristina Mascher-Turner
• Stefan de Leval Jezierski
• Andrej Žust
• Jeff Nelsen
• Robert Ward
• Jonathan Ring
• Bruce Roberts
• Jessica Valeri

Robert Schumann, Konzertstück for Four Horns

• Stefan Dohr
• Andrew Bain
• Timothy Jones
• Sarah Willis

The concert was every bit as good as you would expect, and it was the perfect ending to a day filled with the sound of the horn. More tomorrow!