Guest Artists
Karl Pituch, Principal Horn of the Detroit Symphony, and the Philadelphia Orchestra Horn Section will be Joining Us as Our Featured Guest Artists.
Karl Pituch
Karl Pituch has had a long and distinguished career as orchestral, solo and chamber player, and his master class and performances at the Workshop are sure to inform and inspire.
Before joining the DSO, he was Associate Principal Horn with the Dallas Symphony Orchestra, Principal Horn with the Honolulu Symphony Orchestra, the Jacksonville Symphony and the Colorado Music Festival Orchestra. Karl has also served as a guest Principal Horn for the Los Angeles Philharmonic, the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, the Chautauqua Festival Orchestra and the Grand Teton Festival Orchestra, and can be heard on many recordings with the Dallas, San Francisco and Honolulu Symphony Orchestras.
Don't miss the opportunity to hear Karl in both performance and teaching roles here in Delaware!
Jennifer Montone
Jennifer Montone joined the Philadelphia Orchestra as Principal Horn in September 2006. She is currently on the faculty of both The Curtis Institute of Music and The Juilliard School. Previously, she was the Principal Horn of the Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra from 2003 to 2006, and the Associate Principal Horn of the Dallas Symphony. While in Dallas, she was an adjunct professor at Southern Methodist University. For the past 6 summers, Ms Montone has been a faculty performer at the Aspen Music Festival and School. Named the Paxman "Young Horn Player of the Year" in London in 1996, she has since won many solo competitions and awards throughout the United States, including being awarded a prestigious Avery Fisher Career Grant in 2006.
Jeffrey Lang
Jeffrey Lang is Associate Principal horn of the Philadelphia Orchestra and Principal horn of the American Symphony Orchestra. Formerly Principal horn of the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra, Jeff has been invited as guest principal horn of the Bavarian Radio Orchestra, the New York City Opera Orchestra, and the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra. Jeff has developed an active horn studio at Vassar College, and is currently on the faculty of Temple University and Bard College.
Shelley Showers
Shelley Showers became a member of the Philadelphia Orchestra in 1997 after serving as Acting Principal Horn of the Cleveland Orchestra In 1997 she played Principal Horn on the Grammy-Award winning Cleveland Orchestra recording of the Berlioz Symphonie Fantastique under the direction of Pierre Boulez. Prior to that, she was Principal Horn and soloist with the Utah Symphony. She began her career with the New Jersey Symphony, and subsequently was Acting Associate Principal Horn of the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra.
Daniel Williams
A native Philadelphian, Daniel Williams began his horn studies at the age of nine in the Philadelphia public school system and then went on to attend Temple University and the Curtis Institute of Music. While at Curtis, Mr. Williams performed with the Concerto Soloists of Philadelphia (now the Chamber Orchestra of Philadelphia) and with the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra in its summer season. In 1975, during his senior year at Curtis, he became a member of The Philadelphia Orchestra. Mr. Williams currently serves on the faculty of Temple University.
Jeffry Kirschen
Jeffry Kirschen has been a member of The Philadelphia Orchestra since 1989. Previously, he was Co-Principal Horn of the Utah Symphony and taught at the University of Utah. He has also performed with the Boston, Seattle, and Dallas Symphonies and as an active recitalist. He was a winner of the American Horn Competition in Atlanta, GA. Jeffry enjoys teaching and sharing his love of music with musicians of all ages. He has been part of the New York State Summer School of the Arts Faculty in Saratoga Springs, New York for many years.
Denise Tryon
Denise Tryon joined the Philadelphia Orchestra in October of 2009 as fourth horn. She was previously the fourth horn of the Detroit Symphony Orchestra, as well as holding positions with the Baltimore, Columbus, and New World Symphonies. She also participated in the Colorado Music Festival and Pacific Music Festival. She has taught at Towson University, Wayne State University, and she currently is on the faculty at The Peabody Conservatory in Baltimore.
Contributing Artists/Presenters
These are some of the additional artists who will be performing and/or presenting at this year's Workshop...more to come!
Direct from the Great White Way, the Broadway Horn Players Ensemble, an octet of horn players who will share with us a U.S. premiere of Eric Ewazen’s Bridge of Dreams as well as their combined experience as working musicians both on and off Broadway. Members of the octet (and the shows they represent) are Nancy Billmann (Finian's Rainbow), >Kathy Canfield (Les Miserables, the original), Eva Conti (Billy Elliot), Adam Krautheimer (Shrek the Musical), David Peel, (Radio City Christmas Show), Theo Primus (Wicked), Roger Wendt (Billy Elliot), and Chad Yarbrough (Wicked).
Tobi Cisin made her alphorn debut in 1991 with the Swiss Folklore Group of Washington, DC during the celebration of the 700th anniversary of the founding of Switzerland. She has played alphorn at many Swiss, Austrian and German cultural events. She has appeared as a guest artist with the Folger Consort, several local orchestras and theInternational Horn Society Workshops. She is affiliated with Blaskapelle Alte Kameraden, Alpine Dancers, and the Swiss Folklore Group of Washington. Ms. Cisin spends time in the Swiss Alps during the summer. She has attended many alphorn courses including Tzoumaz and Nendaz as well as the Alphorn Academy of Switzerland. She is a student of the great alphorn virtuoso, Jozef Molnar, and has a Master of Music degree from Indiana University as well as several degrees in music education and anthropology.
Angela Cordell enjoys a freelance career as a chamber musician, orchestral player, and educator. Having just finished a one-year position with the Philadelphia Orchestra as Acting Fourth Horn, she appears this season with the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra and begins teaching at Drexel University. In previous seasons she lived in New York City and appeared with Orpheus, the Orchestra of St. Luke’s, as an extra musician with the Metropolitan Opera. She has performed with the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, Jupiter Symphony Chamber Players, Columbia Sinfonietta, Imani Winds, Zephyros Winds, at Bargemusic, and in many Broadway shows. Ms. Cordell spent several summers at the Marlboro Music Festival and toured with Musicians from Marlboro.
Delaware Symphony Horn Section - Originally from Long Island, NY, Karen Shubert is a graduate of The Curtis Institute of Music, where she was a student of Myron Bloom. She is currently Principal Horn with The Delaware Symphony, OperaDelaware, and the Kennett Symphony, and second horn with The Chamber Orchestra of Philadelphia. Lisa Dunham received her musical training from the Eastman School of Music (B.M. in Performance and Music Education) and Florida State University (M.M. in Performance). Lisa currently holds positions with the Delaware Symphony Orchestra, OperaDelaware and Kennett Symphony of Chester County and freelances in the Wilmington/Philadelphia region. James Rester is a native of Monroeville Alabama. In addition to playing 3rd horn in Delaware Symphony, he is also Acting Principal horn in Annapolis Symphony, Third Horn in Lancaster Symphony, and a substitute with Philadelphia and National Philharmonic Orchestras. Katy Ambrose received her B.M. at the University of Michigan and her M.M. at the Cincinnati College- Conservatory of Music. In addition to the DSO she is a member of the Northeastern Pennsylvania Philharmonic and teaches at Settlement Music School in Philadelphia and Community Music School in Trappe, Pennsylvania.
Dr. Rebecca Dodson-Webster was born in Apollo, Pennsylvania, and received her Bachelor’s Degree in Music from Grove City College, her Master of Fine Arts Degree in horn performance from Carnegie Mellon University, and her Doctor of Musical Arts Degree in horn performance from the University of Wisconsin. Her academic interests include the study of contemporary repertoire for the horn, fitness for musicians, and the study of the music of indigenous cultures. She currently serves as Associate Professor of Music at Mansfield University, where she teaches horn and music history. Previous teaching positions include the University of Idaho and the University of Louisiana at Monroe. A member of the American Federation of Musicians Local 60-471, she performs regularly in numerous orchestras, and has released a solo CD, Music for Horn and Piano, on the Centaur label.
Wallace Easter a western New York native, began study of the horn at age nine and received early instruction from Lowell Shaw, hornist with the Buffalo Philharmonic and noted composer of music for the horn. While attending the Oberlin Conservatory of Music he studied under Robert Fries who came to Oberlin from the Philadelphia Orchestra. Mr. Easter’s graduate work at the Catholic University of America included horn study with Joseph Singer of the New York Philharmonic. Mr. Easter began his professional performing career with the United States Marine Band , “The President’s Own” in Washington, D. C.. As a member of the Marine Band, he toured the United States and performed frequently at the White House. In 1981, Mr. Easter joined the faculty of the Music Department at Virginia Tech and the Roanoke Symphony as principal horn. Mr. Easter has been a featured soloist with many orchestras in the mid Atlantic region and has also performed in recital and at professional conferences and music festivals in the United States, Europe and Africa.
Daniel Grabois is the chairman of the Manhattan School of Music's Contemporary Performance department, where he works intimately with a faculty composed of many of New York's leading contemporary musicians and a student body comprising tomorrow's greatest performers. A member of the Meridian Arts Ensemble, a new-music brass and percussion ensemble that performs around the world and has released nine critically acclaimed CD's, he has also played with almost all of the enesmbles in New York City, including the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, St. Luke's Chamber Orchestra, Metropolitan Opera Orchestra, New York City Opera, New York City Ballet, American Ballet Theater, and American Symphony Orchestra. He is a member of Sequitur, a contemporary music ensemble, with whom he recorded a new horn concerto written for him by David Rakowski, and premiered that work at Lincoln Center. Also a composer, Grabois has written numerous works including an etude book for horn and several works for the Meridian Arts Ensemble. A member of the chamber music faculty at the Manhattan School of Music and professor of horn at The Hartt School, he received his Bachelor's degree from Yale (summa cum laude) and his Master's from the Manhattan School of Music. He lives in Queens with his wife and young son, Charlie.
Douglas Lundeen began his musical training in opera in Manhattan, studying voice with dramatic tenor, Herbert Doussant and repertoire with Metropolitan Opera coach Frank Baselice. At the same time he picked up the horn for fun, teaching himself by playing his vocal exercises and arias on the horn. An engagement with the Orquesta Naçional de Costa Rica in 1979 began a serendipitous career as a hornist. He received his DMA from CCM, where he was a student of Lowell Greer. Equally at home as a soloist, chamber player and orchestral musician on the modern horn, Dr. Lundeen is also well known as a performer on the valveless natural horn. Since winning First Prize in the Natural Horn Division of the 1987 American Horn Competition he has gone on to play principal horn with leading period instrument orchestras in New York City, San Francisco, Chicago, Montréal, Boston and Washington, D.C, and has recordings on the Sony, Koch, Titanic, Centaur and Musical Heritage Society labels. He is Principal Horn of the Princeton Symphony and is Associate Professor of Horn at the Mason Gross School of the Arts (Rutgers University).
Andrew M. McAfee, former Principal Horn of North Carolina Symphony (1992-2007), is the horn instructor at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Music Director/Conductor of the Triangle Youth Ballet and performs with the Carolina Wind Quintet (comprised of NC Symphony and UNC faculty members). His website (hornlessons.org) features 12 videos on horn technique. He received his Bachelor of Music in Performance from Northwestern University (Dale Clevenger and Norman Schweikert), where he performed with the Chicago Symphony and Civic Orchestra of Chicago. He holds a Masters in Orchestral Conducting from the University of North Carolina School of the Arts. Mr. McAfee has performed with the Sante Fe Opera, St. Louis Symphony and Chautauqua Symphony Orchestra, and has held full time horn positions with the Honolulu Symphony, Columbus Symphony, New Mexico Symphony and the North Carolina Symphony. He has also been a guest clinician at the Southeast Horn Workshop and is a frequent guest conductor with area community orchestras and ensembles.
Lynn Steeves will graduate from Stony Brook University in May 2010 with a DMA in horn performance where she studies with Ann Ellsworth. She earned her bachelors in horn performance from the University of Kentucky, studying with David Elliott, and her masters in horn performance from Florida State University where she studied with Michelle Stebleton and was the horn studio's teaching assistant. Lynn has performed with such groups as the Tallahassee Symphony Orchestra, Jacksonville Symphony, Paradigm Brass Quintet, and the Long Island Concert Pops. Lynn also performed at the 2008 and 2009 Southeast Horn Workshops and helped to lead a warm-up session at the 2008 International Horn Workshop in Denver, Co. She is currently the horn professor at Five Towns College in Dix Hills, NY.
The U.S. Army Horn Quartet is a component of the U.S. Army Band (Pershing's Own). Staff Sergeant Benjamin Cadle has been a member of "Pershing's Own" since 2003. He received a bachelor's degree in music education from Louisiana State University in 1999 and a master's degree in music performance in 2003. Prior to joining The United States Army Band in 2008, Staff Sergeant Shawn Hagen toured the country with The United States Army Field Band for eight years. He holds a B.Mus. from Arkansas State University and M.Mus. from the University of Alabama. Sergeant First Class Rick Lee joined The United States Army Band in 1999. He earned a bachelor's degree from The University of Georgia, then a Masters Degree as well as an Artist Diploma from Yale University as a student of Paul Ingraham. A native of Baytown, TX, Staff Sergeant Kelly Satterwhite has been a member of The United States Army Band since June 2003. SSG Satterwhite earned a Bachelor of Music Degree from Louisiana State University in 2003 where he studied with Seth Orgel.
Zinkali - the Sound of Flute, Horn and Piano promotes the works of living composers as well as enlivening the classical repertoire with their wit, charm and beauty. L. Elise Carter, flute, performed her debut solo recital at Weill recital hall in Carnegie hall in 2005. Ms. Carter is Adjunct Professor at Drew University and President of the New Jersey Flute Society. Susan LaFever, horn, has been a soloist, chamber and orchestral musician in concerts throughout the United States, Western Europe, Mexico and Japan. A graduate of the University of Nebraska and Manhattan School of Music, Ms. LaFever is Principal Horn of the Doansburg Chamber Ensemble and Third Horn of the Greater Bridgeport Symphony Orchestra. Laura Ravotti, piano, has been performing professionally since 1986, starting in Nashville, TN, where she was rehearsal accompanist for the Nashville Ballet, staff accompanist at Vanderbilt University, and a substitute horn player with the Nashville Symphony. Ms. Ravotti is a graduate of Carnegie-Mellon University, where she received her BFA in piano performance with a minor in horn. She also holds a Master’s degree in piano performance from Bowling Green State University.
Hornchoirpalooza!
We'll also be joined at the Workshop by ensembles from the following schools:
- University of Delaware
- The Hartt School of Music
- James Madison University
- S.U.N.Y. Stony Brook
- The Temple Horns (Temple U.)
- Virginia Tech University
- Virginia Commonwealth University
- Westminster College
