For about a year, four other Eastman horn players (Nikki Labonte, Chelsea Nelson, Caroline Baker, and Rennie Cotner) and I have been on the lookout for the Berlin Philharmonic ticket sale for their tour performances at Carnegie Hall this month. With a horn section as famous and important as Berlin’s, we knew we couldn’t miss them. Not being so close to home very often, Nikki started emailing and Facebook messaging horn players left and right with the hopes of organizing a meeting with someone. Not expecting much response from these incredibly busy musicians, we were shocked when nearly all responded and were enthusiastic about offering several hours of their time for private master classes. We decided not to stop there, and contacted more horn players in New York.
By the time all the details of the trip were ironed out, we had a jaw-dropping lineup of private master classes with Fergus McWilliam (second horn in Berlin – shown in the photograph with all of us), Leelanee Sterret (third horn in the New York Philharmonic), Javier Gandara (co-principal horn in the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra), Stephan Jezierski (third horn in Berlin), and Al Spanjer (second horn in the New York Philharmonic). We were also invited by Sarah Willis (fourth horn in Berlin), to view the live recording of one of her online “Horn Hangouts,” as she was interviewing Phil Meyers (principal of the New York Philharmonic), and to watch her master class at the Manhattan School of Music. Also, for the majority of these events, the players gave their time to us completely free of charge.
The five of us were amazed at the warmth of the communities we approached. Musicians of the highest possible caliber of performance responded to our messages, and even went further than our requests. Al Spanjer gave us his comp tickets for the New York Philharmonic concert of Carl Nielsen repertoire. The Berlin horns invited us to their dress rehearsal, took us backstage at Carnegie Hall, and let us sit in their seats on stage.
While we all learned so much from all of the classes and performances we attended in the city, most important was the realization that if there were no initiative to try for these opportunities, none of it would’ve happened. All the people we contacted could have responded no, not answered at all, or charged $500. We were lucky- they didn’t. But we wouldn’t have known if we didn’t try!
— Rebekah Lorenz ’17