While going through some old CDs recently, I came across my final undergraduate recital at Appalachian State University. I don’t recall the exact date, but it would have been sometime in October of 2001. I had not listened to these recordings in years, and doing so was a great trip down memory lane. Here is the program, with embedded audio. Feel free to take a listen!

• Calls for Two Horns, Verne Reynolds
• Villanelle, Paul Dukas
• Nocturno, Op. 7, Franz Strauss
• Espana, Vitaly Buyanovsky
• Quintet for Horn and Strings, K. 407, W.A. Mozart
  • I.
  • II.
  • III.

Unfortunately I don’t have a copy of the program handy, but if memory serves here are the names of the other performers.

• Bair Shagdaron, piano
• Kevin Burke, horn 
• R.J. Wohlman, violin
• Ethan Adelsman, viola
• John Bursey, viola
• Bill Davis, cello

Kudos to all of them for very fine performances! Overall I still feel good about that recital from nearly 20 years ago. *An interesting piece of information about the Mozart is that one of the viola players injured their hand the day before the recital, and we had to get a sub at the last minute. I can still vividly remember getting the call from my teacher on the day of the recital, and singing my way through an impromptu rehearsal of the Mozart that afternoon with the new violist!

I have many fond memories of Boone and Appalachian State, and  got a terrific undergraduate education there, studying with Dr. Karen Robertson. During my senior year I also had the opportunity to perform with the Asheville Symphony as well as the usual collegiate ensembles. I’m so thankful for those opportunities, as they really helped me get on the right track at an early stage in my career. Looking back on where I was playing-wise at the time, I struggled with the high range and also had issues with intonation, endurance, and consistency of sound. I continued to work through these over the course of my graduate studies and well into my first few years at ULM. To close, I think the big thing to take away from this throwback Thursday post is to never stop practicing! Be proud of your successes  – as I was and still am proud of this recital from 2001 – but always  keep trying to become a better horn player.