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SubCategory Archive (tags): ‘Christmas & holiday’

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Kenton: A Merry Christmas

PUBLISHED: December 24, 2009, John Ericson

One of the all-time great Christmas albums is A Merry Christmas by Stan Kenton. Recorded in 1961 at the peak of a classic period where he used the section of four Conn Mellophoniums, I had heard of this album but had never owned a copy until just a few days ago. The Mellophonium section sounds [...]

Twas the Three Service Day Before Christmas and More Notes on The Nutcracker

PUBLISHED: December 20, 2009, John Ericson

Toward the end of December one tradition for many orchestral players is at least one three service day before Christmas. I just had my first one in years. Symphony contracts do not allow three service days. What happens is they come up periodically due to a combination of two services to play and an outside [...]

Categories: Sub-categories:
Christmas & holiday, Orchestra, Orchestra 101

Nutcrackers Past and Present

PUBLISHED: December 8, 2009, John Ericson

Sunday afternoon I heard an excellent performance of an extended suite of selections from The Nutcracker performed by the ASU Symphony Orchestra on their annual Holiday Concert. Hearing them brought back a few good memories of Nutcrackers past. I performed The Nutcracker every year I was in Nashville with the exception of the year my [...]

Horns for the Holidays

PUBLISHED: December 5, 2009, John Ericson

Christmas is coming! A CD that was out last year but I did not highlight then is Horns for the Holidays by Quadre. Their description of the CD reads, Horns for the Holidays, our third CD recorded in 2008, features Hollywood superstar horn player, James Thatcher, percussionist James Kassis, and the Bellfire handbell choir in [...]

Categories: Sub-categories:
Christmas & holiday, Horn ensemble, Recordings

Holiday Gift Ideas for the Horn Player

PUBLISHED: December 8, 2008, Bruce Hembd

Miscellaneous trinkets and baubles. Looking for cool gifts for yourself or that horn player in your life? Here are a few ideas: Put Your Face on a Caricature If the Ecliptic option is a bit steep for you, for $10 at FindGift.com you can get a fun caricature done with any face on it. A [...]

Categories: Sub-categories:
Christmas & holiday
John Ericson & Bruce Hembd
on the French horn, brass related topics, and the field of classical music.