Random Monday: On Display, Shocking News, a New Kid in the Block and Nerds Who Play French Horn

Or, to borrow a term from Bruce Hembd, this could be called “Random Friday.” As to my last week in Nashville, this past week I have been converting VHS tapes to DVDs and I got to a tape made in June of 1998. It was of a presentation I gave at the Governor’s School for [...]

21st and 19th century merge. I am not exactly sure what this is but you can judge for yourself. Is it more science than art? Was the process of constructing this performance more valid and interesting than the actual performance? Aural Spans Performance from Michael Gjurich on Vimeo.

The last session that I have a video of in the archive of the 1989 Southwest Regional Horn Workshop is the master class with William Lane, Principal Horn of the Los Angeles Philharmonic. His class focused on orchestral excerpts. Lane over the course of the class told a number of stories, offered advice on orchestral [...]

A look behind-the-scenes. If I were to pick an different career for a different lifetime I would strongly consider brass instrument manufacturing and repair. The process is fascinating to me — it would be a labor of love. I once smashed a horn and thought for sure that it was beyond repair. A chair I [...]

The fourth of five archive videos I just converted to DVD from the 1989 Southwest Regional Horn Workshop is of the session by Kristin Thelander on the natural horn. She gave a great session. Not that it is a competition or anything at any workshop, but this one did especially catch my attention and will [...]

Random comparison. While watching the old Anvil Films movie of Dennis Brain playing the Beethoven Op. 17, something seemed a bit familiar. While the angles of the mouthpiece are different, the slight folding over of the top lip onto the mouthpiece is similar. It is difficult draw any conclusions — the pictures are blurry — [...]