SubCategory Archive (tags): ‘Orchestra’

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‘Real World’ Talk with Wendell Rider, II

06/25/2010

Continued from Part I * * * Q: The economy in America right now is a big mess and many orchestras are feeling the pinch; some have closed down completely. You had a similar experience as principal horn of the San Jose Symphony for 32 years. What thoughts do you have on the SJ downfall? [...]

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‘Real World’ Talk with Wendell Rider, I

06/25/2010

Wendell Rider was Principal Horn with the San Jose Symphony from 1970 until its demise in 2002. He has also been Principal Horn with the Midsummer Mozart Festival Orchestra, the Bear Valley Music Festival, the Monterey County Symphony and the Monterey Bay Symphony. Mr. Rider’s book, Real World Horn Playing is now in its second [...]

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Auditioning for the Berlin Philharmonic

06/02/2010

The Noble Viola has recanted an interesting dialogue at Polyphonic.org where Berlin Philharmonic hornist Fergus McWilliam gave insight into the BP audition process. The dialogue begins with what more-or-less amounts to a mission statement: 1. The vacancy belongs to the orchestra. In no way is it the property of the public domain. The orchestra is [...]

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Random Monday: Mushrooms, Dry Humor and Lawsuit in Cleveland

05/10/2010

French horn mushrooms They look delicious. The mysterious blue horn Apparently on the American television comedy How I Met Your Mother a classic mellophone, which has been a standing background prop, took center stage in a recent episode. And a few days later, just when Ted thought she’d forgotten about it, he storms her room [...]

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The Nashville Symphony and Video of the Flood of 2010

05/08/2010

As a former member of the Nashville Symphony I have been watching with interest for coverage on the major flood this past week. When I started seeing photos it was easy to see that the damage is quite extensive; it was for me especially startling to see photos of the damage inside the Opryland Hotel [...]

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What is the difference between an orchestra and a bull?

05/05/2010

A twist on an old joke. Wait for the final punch. WARNING: PG-13 rating for brief cartoon female nudity. I blame it on crazed groupies that hang out with sketchy double-bass players.

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Horn Sections With and Without an Associate Principal

03/28/2010

A topic that comes up periodically is that of the use of an assistant first horn in orchestral playing in the United States. I have some general notes here, but a side issue is that of how sections run when they do and don’t have an official Associate Principal horn. As such, this post borders [...]

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