Advice on Messiaen’s Appel Interstellaire

I was recently asked to provide my advice on learning Olivier Messiaen’s “Appel Interstellaire”, the solo-horn sixth movement of his Des canyons aux étoiles. I’ve performed this a number of times on recitals and most recently for a small electronic music showcase (for this particular performance, some very nice reverb was applied in real-time). My…
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Horn Range

My attempt to keep this brief enough to make it as simple as it seems in my head has been a failure, but I suppose I’ve tried to make this document do three things at once. I wanted to outline the basic registers of the range of the horn along with some timbral and technical…
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A Short Philosophy of Teaching (part 1)

I teach in a holistic fashion: as a performer, I conceive of whole phrases, put pieces together in whole forms, and approach playing the horn as a sum of physical and mental processes that are inextricably linked. Old methods and new are combined to provide flexibility, well-roundedness, and sound musical thinking. As in every other…
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