The Horn Call Podcast

Our guest for this episode is Peter Luff, President of the International Horn Society!

Episode Highlights

Schooling, early influences

Switching from Trumpet to Horn

Queensland Symphony

Important influences on Australian horn playing

Hector MacDonald

Conducting experience

Importance of chamber music

Gunther Schuller

“If you need an injection of enthusiasm, attend a conference.”

Teaching Philosophy

Shout out to Ysolt Clark

“Be a musician that plays the horn.”

Our guest for Episode 76 is Layan Atieh, hornist with Seraph Brass, and the newly appointed horn professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison!

Episode Highlights

Studying with Robert Rearden at Peabody Conservatory and Nathaniel Silberschlag at the Cleveland Institute of Music

“There’s a bigger goal beyond getting good at the instrument…”

Music as a means of creating cross-cultural connections

“The way you walk on stage is part of the performance…be intentional about it.”

Rehearsals/Programming for Seraph Brass

Audition process for Seraph Brass

Tour hacks

"Endurance is one of the hardest things about playing in a brass quintet."

“Thread and Chord: A Dialogue Between Fashion and Music”

Advice for students and early career professionals on balancing a busy career with life and other commitments. “You have to be ok with not being great at everything all the time…”

Role of the International Horn Society, International Women’s Brass Conference, other organizations

Upcoming projects: Recordings, Tours, Lemon Stick Trio: Voice, Horn, and Piano recording

Join us in Episode 75 for a conversation with 2025 IHS Punto Award Winner Xiao-Ming Han! Xiao-Ming recently retired from the German Radio Philharmonic Orchestra and returned to his native China to teach at the Shanghai Conservatory of Music.

Episode Highlights

Growing up in China in the 1960s in a musical family

Choosing between music and sports

Attending conservatory in Beijing at age 14.

Joining the China Philharmonic at age 17.

Early meeting with Richard Mackey, replacing Richard Mackey at the last minute on Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony conducted by Seiji Ozawa.

Leaving China at 18 to pursue horn at Tanglewood and the New England Conservatory.

Studying in Germany and winning an orchestral position at the age of 21.

Coming back to his roots in Shanghai as a professor to mentor the next generation of players

Promoting the IHS in China

In Episode 74, we speak with Benjamin Lieser, the horn professor at the University of Central Florida and a member of the IHS Advisory council!

Episode Highlights

Growing up in Florida, getting started in music and on the horn

Switching from trumpet to horn

Important Early Influences: Dean Cassels, William Robinson, William Capps

Tallahassee Symphony Youth Orchestra

Studying at Florida State University

Interlochen with Randall Faust

Graduate School at the University of Cincinnati with Randy Gardner

Performing in Mexico

Band directing, freelance career, adjunct teaching at Stetson University

“There’s no such thing as part-time Middle School Band Directing.”

Doctoral School at Florida State with Michelle Stebleton

Teaching philosophy

Balancing teaching with an active performance career

Importance of the IHS/Serving on the Advisory Council

IHS Scholarships and Awards: https://www.hornsociety.org/programs/awards-and-competitions

Barbara Chinworth Project: https://www.hornsociety.org/programs/awards-and-competitions/barbara-chinworth-project

Florida Horn Festival https://www.floridahornfest.com/

Our guest for Episode 73 is Elizabeth Freimuth, professor of horn in the Shepherd School of Music at Rice University, former principal horn of the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, and a member of the IHS Advisory Council!

Episode Highlights

 

Teaching full time at her Alma Mater, Rice University

Differences between teaching full time and performing in an orchestra full time.

Changes in teaching philosophy over the years

Balancing analytical mindset vs. performance mindset

Importance of the IHS

International Horn Competition of America

Technology and horn playing/teaching

“It’s a very distracting world…”

Cincinnati Symphony/Pops stories

Keeping playing fundamentals in order