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Deep Thoughts

Inspirations

The Future of French Horn Playing

One thought I have heard (and have repeated myself) is that this is a “golden age” for the French horn. Or is it? Before getting...

Getting bumped

A story about getting voted down a chair at the Interlochen Summer Music Camp brought back memories of my own experiences there. If only...

Hornist Motivations: Bucket Lists, etc.

A post yesterday on the Hornisten der Berliner Philharmoniker Facebook page brought to mind a point worth making about motivations for horn players. The specific post...

A Memory from High School

A newspaper clipping from years past. Thanks to a Facebook friend from high school, I have this newspaper clipping from the early 1980's. It was...

Six things of value

Last week I took a road trip to New Mexico in order to take care of some business, and also to get some work...

Of horns past, wistfully

* * * A short story from Lou "Gluefish" Wilson. * * * I used to love the 6D's I played with in high school. ...

Op Ed: On Critical Thinking and Bias

The topic of prejudice has come across the radar of late - on several fronts at once. Funny how that happens. Within Horn Matters, John...

The important topic of how to refer to the 5th Symphony...

As a student I don’t recall anyone saying anything other than Shostakovich 5 in reference to the famous symphony and the famous horn excerpts...

What Makes a Performance Great?

Listening to music, looking at fine art or in appreciating a great meal, what is it that makes the experience great, memorable and...

Lessons in Vienna, part IX: Lasting Impact on a Career

This series of articles expands on notes taken by Nicholas Smith in lessons with Roland Berger in 1977. This is the concluding article. Most players...