August 15, 2008 by Bruce Hembd

Archived under: Inspiration & The Big Picture

Wild Card Critic Allan Kozinn Rails on the NY Phil Horns


ace smiley Wild Card Critic Allan Kozinn Rails on the NY Phil Horns

Reaction around the Internet.

I have been tracking the response to Allan Kozinn’s New York Times article “The French Horn – That Wild Card of the Orchestra.” As of August 15th, this article was the #2 most e-mailed Times arts-related story and #17 in the overall rankings.

Beside my own commentary, here is a post of some other blog and forum reactions.

  • Kenneth Woods on his blog “View from the Podium” points out from the conductor and teacher perspective that ordering players to DO NOT MISS!!, can provoke more mistakes in “Why I Subscribe to the New York Times.”
  • While the Yahoo Horn Group has been relatively subdued on the topic, the forum discussion at TrumpetHerald.com has been quite animated.
  • At “Brass and Ivory” blog a funny story of a horn player stomping music and throwing his horn is told.
  • John Ericson’s “On Defensive Hornists and Accuracy.”
  • A brief response at the “College Confidential” forum.
  • Greg Sabo has posted a blog with the provocative title “The Worst Instrument in the World.” Apparently his experience was nothing but frustration.
  • ArtsJournal.com which normally picks up everything arts-related in the media either missed this one completely, or made a conscious decision to pass on it (!?)

As an aside to add some perspective, I also found “Eavesdropping on a Horn God” an interesting read – notes taken at a Phil Myers masterclass on taking auditions. An old CNN article is also worth a look.

BRUCE HEMBD is a web marketing developer by day who plays French horn professionally at night.» More information about Bruce Hembd » More articles by Bruce Hembd » Contact

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Wild Card Critic Allan Kozinn Rails on the NY Phil Horns
Published on August 15, 2008 by Bruce Hembd

Archived under: Inspiration & The Big Picture
John Ericson & Bruce Hembd
on the French horn, brass related topics, and the field of classical music.