But anyways, this rehearsal was awesome! We currently have 11 members of the horn club! it's so exciting that I have been able to roped up 10 other horn players on Whidbey Island and get them all together in the same place! And we're sounding good for such a diverse and inexperienced bunch. I mean, we've got my wife Holly (who is experienced but hasn't played much in the last several years) 4 high school students (2 of them freshmen who started horn last year), a retired person who started horn, my mother (who started horn a couple months ago, and played trumpet very well in high school), a home-health worker & music lover that started horn 7 years ago, a navy girl who played in high school and is starting back up again, and a percussion-playing band teacher who has horn-playing experience. I mean, you couldn't have a more diverse group, all but one of them (besides me) have college education on the horn. But the love for playing the horn and making music is the same amongst everyone, and the excitement for the music we play, and the drive to work on it. And that's what's important. I strongly believe the the level and skill of the individuals in the ensemble means doesn't matter; if all the members have the right attitude and work ethic, any group can sound amazing...and that's what we're doing.
Don't worry, I'm constructing a website for us that will display more information about our happening and about the members of the group. So sit tight. I know you're anxious.
Oh, the music we're playing! I forgot. So, here it is. For our December concert, I would like to play half a program of concert music, and half a program of Christmas music. I don't have Christmas music for them yet, but the concert music is this:
Bruckner: Trosterin Musik (arranged by me)
Muller: Waldlied
Pottag: Quartet for Horns, on Motives of Richard Wagner
Puccini: Nessun Dorma
Rachmaninoff: Ave Maria, from All-Night Vigil (arranged by me)
Fucik: Entry of the Gladiators (arranged by me)
I'm gonna record all these tunes soon, and I'll let you know when I put them on my "Recordings" page. They're all great pieces!
So yes, even at 6:49 in the morning, I'm super-excited for this group. I just love horn ensembles, particularly those with awesome people in it. And the 4 high school players in the group are all my students, with very little exposure to this sort of thing. So, I'm glad I can give them this exposure.
Take care and value music.