Home > Orchestra

SubCategory Archive (tags): ‘Orchestra’

See the complete archive.

Horn Sections With and Without an Associate Principal

PUBLISHED: March 28, 2010, John Ericson

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 [...]

Categories: Sub-categories:
Orchestra, Orchestra 101

Random Monday: Been a While, Beta Blockers, and a Big Hit

PUBLISHED: March 15, 2010, Bruce Hembd

As work continues to forge ahead on the new AZOOMA project, I was surprised that several weeks had passed without posting to Horn Matters. I am still here, alive and kicking but of late all my attention has been at AZOOMA. We are busy plotting and organizing a group participation web site. The prospects look [...]

Random Monday: Bigger Better, Getting Rusty and Desert Dreams

PUBLISHED: February 8, 2010, Bruce Hembd

Bigger ain’t always better I suppose just about every brass player at some point goes through a “bigger is better” phase and ends up going a little too far. Isn’t a bigger mouthpiece like lifting weights – it will make me stronger, right? Dr. Mouthpiece has a few words… Rusty musicians get a chance The [...]

Raising the Tribe

PUBLISHED: February 5, 2010, Bruce Hembd

It is not fun when an organization you are in falls apart. It does happen sometimes. Companies fold. A chamber group breaks up. Workers go on strike. At the recent Orchestral Musicians Symposium some true horror stories were told. Representatives from the Phoenix, Tucson, Arizona Opera, New Mexico and Spokane orchestras gave updates of their [...]

What do Conductors want to Hear?

PUBLISHED: January 30, 2010, John Ericson

For the body of this post we go way back in the archives to the first year of the Horn Notes Blog. Conductors are an enigma in many ways. Certainly they really want the right notes, but there is more to it than that. Back on 8/27/2004 I posted another insight into what they are [...]

Backstage: Angels Seen on High

PUBLISHED: December 30, 2009, Bruce Hembd

During Arizona Opera productions I like to regress to the green room of symphony hall to relax. During an intermission break at a recent Nutcracker production in the same hall I was surprised to find the same room being used as a preparation area for Christmas angels. I snapped this quick photo of the scene: [...]

Sub-categories:
Off topic, Orchestra

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
John Ericson & Bruce Hembd
on the French horn, brass related topics, and the field of classical music.