Sunday, February 20, 2011

Congratulations are in order

Congratulations go out to Dr. Bruce Atwell, Professor of Horn at the University of Wisconsin Oshkosh, for a successful Horn Day on Saturday the 19th. It was the first Horn Day at UWO, with many more to come.

Besides providing seminars on technique and performance for the attendees, there were two special events. The first was the appearance of the American Horn Quartet, one of the best chamber music groups in the world. Not only did they perform in concert in the evening, but they instructed a Master Class in the afternoon for the Horn Day attendees.

I love to see these events well attended because they promote music within the community, and allow amateur musicians to learn from the very best at an extremely low cost. What a great event for Horn students in the Oshkosh and Fox Valley areas. And I know of adults from the Milwaukee area that attended as well.

But I mentioned before that there were two special events. The second event occurred in the afternoon when the American Horn Quartet joined the Fox Valley Horn Club in a performance of the March from Raiders of the Lost Ark by John Williams. The Fox Valley Horn Club is made up of mostly middle and high school students learning the horn, with some adults to help out - especially with the bass clef parts. This arrangement of Raiders is for 12 voices, all French Horns, and it is great. If you missed seeing the performance live, it will be on YouTube very soon. And I'm sure the members of the Horn Club will remember performing with the American Horn Quartet for many years!

As I said, congratulations are definitely in order for both Dr. Atwell and for Don Krause. Well done!

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