You may have noticed in these recent Middle and High School All-State videos that I’m no longer playing my trusty Yamaha 671 or a Yamaha 668II. Last spring I had the opportunity to order a Yamaha 871 directly from their factory. This is their “custom” Geyer model, and while it does share a lot of similarities with the 671, it is a different horn in some respects and well worth trying. Initially I spent about 2 or 3 months switching back and forth between the 871 and 671, but at this point I’m doing the majority of my playing on the 871. If you’re interested, here are some of my perceptions of ..read more

Now that the busyness of the semester has started to settle down, I’ve had a chance to work on a few other projects. One of them is new recordings of the upcoming 2024-2025 All-State etudes for both middle and high school horn players in Louisiana. While there have long been high school All-State bands (and orchestras) in Louisiana, next year will be the first time a Middle School All-State Band will be offered to my knowledge. The high school audition etudes are on a four year rotation, with two etudes (lyrical and technical) in each of the four sets. When I moved to Louisiana in 2006, these ..read more

This fall I was fortunate to be able to go on a brief recital tour, performing the same program three times in one week at the University of Louisiana Monroe, Arkansas State University, and the University of Central Arkansas. Videos from the final performance at UCA can be found at the end of this post. THANK YOU to my collaborator, Justin Havard, as well as our hosts Juli Buxbaum and the Arkansas State University Horn Studio and Brent Shires and the University of Central Arkansas Horn Studio. It’s been a while since I did a strictly horn and piano recital, and this program was tremendously fu ..read more

It’s been a while since I posted anything here, but I recently received three excellent publications for review from Legacy Horn Experience, https://www.legacyhornexperience.com/. LHE was created by Steve Lewis, who, as he mentions on the About page, is not “the” Steve Lewis of S.W. Lewis Horns. Rather, this company sells a variety of horn-related items including music and mouthpieces: We are proud to offer new editions by Martin Hackleman and David Jolley. Other publications offered include those by Vitaly Buyanovsky, Daniel Bourgue, Eli Epstein, Frøydis Ree Wekre, Andrew Lewinter, and Joh ..read more

Here are some videos from a recital a few months ago, “Lyrical Works for Clarinet, Horn, and Piano” on October 13 on the ULM campus. Presented as part of our local orchestra’s chamber music series, this was a fun concert to program and put together with my colleagues Scot Humes on clarinet and Richard Seiler on piano. Carl Reinecke, Trio in B flat-major Op. 274 for Clarinet, Horn, and Piano Gina Gillie, Three Paintings for Clarinet, Horn, and Piano *World Premiere George Rochberg, Trio for B-flat Clarinet, F Horn, and Piano The only work I’d performed before was the Rochberg, way back in 2006 ..read more

This blog isn’t dead, just taking an extended hiatus! Since taking over as Publications Editor for the International Horn Society in the summer of 2020, my contributions on this site have been reduced considerably. However, the following material, given as a joint presentation with Marilyn Bone Kloss at the 54th International Horn Symposium, seemed like it might be of interest to readers of this blog, if there are any left! The impetus for this presentation came from learning just how much “behind the scenes” work takes place to produce a journal like The Horn Call. Though I had been a frequen ..read more

It’s been a busy semester here in Louisiana, but things are starting to wind down. Final exams and juries remain, as well as a few holiday gigs for which I am very grateful! Best wishes to all of my colleagues as they finish up their teaching and performance obligations for this year. In lieu of a full update from the past semester, here are some recent performance videos. The first two selections were originally submitted for the 53rd International Horn Symposium, which was 100% online. IHS 53 content is no longer available, so if you didn’t get a chance to hear these videos as part of the sy ..read more

It’s past time for an update on this blog, and I apologize to my readers (if any are left!) that it’s been so long since my last post. While things have gone well the past several months, I – like everyone else – am looking forward to returning to “normal” as soon as is safely possible. The mood in my state and region is more positive now than it’s been in a long time, which is of course encouraging. Equipment – A New Horn! While I’ve played on Geyer/Knopf-style horns for the majority of my career, I appreciate many (though not all) of the qualities of large-bell, i.e. Kruspe-style, horns. I r ..read more

Here’s a slightly edited version of a recent email I sent to my students. Perhaps it may be of use to you and/or your students. If you are currently quarantining because of a COVID-19 diagnosis or exposure, here are some things you can do to help fill the time. Be sure to follow all directives from your health-care provider, before doing any of the following. Assuming you are feeling well enough… Self-Care/Well Being Take a 15-minute walk outside every day, making sure you observe all health and safety protocols. Read a book. Sit outside and read a book/take a short nap. Call/Zoom/Skype/Face ..read more

As our fall semester is nearly at the halfway point, I won’t even bother calling this post a semester “Preview.” Rather, here’s a brief update on some recent activities. Fall Classes/Lessons Like many places, my university is operating with a combination of face-to-face and online instruction. Things seem to be going well, and the faculty and students have done an admirable job adapting to the new environment. ULM Horn Studio Fall 2020 Online Solo and Chamber Performances We have been live-streaming a few concerts and recitals, and also releasing pre-recorded concert videos on our school’s Yo ..read more