—Written by Andrew Sieradzki ’26E, Eastman Communications Intern
SFC J.G. Miller ’06E, horn
On Wednesday, September 11, 2024 the Eastman Horn Choir, under the direction of Professor Peter Kurau, will present a concert honoring the lives lost in terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center, twenty three years prior. This performance welcomes Sergeant First Class J.G. Miller ’06E, horn, to the stage, along with guest speakers Jonathan Baldo, Professor of English; George Taylor, Professor of Viola; and Kate Sheeran, Joan and Martin Messinger Dean of the Eastman School of Music. This concert will be held in Kilbourn Hall at 11:30 a.m. as part of the Rochester Fringe Festival.
The program includes selections from motets by Felix Mendelssohn and Johannes Brahms — reflective works that express both the tragedy of the lives lost and the strength in national unity that followed the attacks — arranged and transcribed by Professor Emeritus of Horn Verne Reynolds. Also programmed are a setting of “America, the Beautiful,” arranged by Jeff Tyzik ’73E, ’77E (MM) and transcribed by SFC Miller, and “Remembering 9/11,” written for the Eastman Horn Choir by Steven Morrell ’92E (MM), featuring SFC Miller as a soloist — a role he will be reprising after two decades.
“It is a privilege to return to Kilbourn Hall after performing this solo in 2004 in Valencia, Spain at the International Horn Symposium with the Eastman Horn Choir. To come back as a soldier of the U.S. Army Field Band 20 years later…it is a humbling opportunity to honor the memory of those lost, while also looking to the future with steadfast hope,” says SFC Miller, who presently serves as horn section leader in the United States Army Field Band,
Kurau notes that the September 11 attacks have changed not only our country, but the world we live in today. “We in the horn studio wanted to offer a brief concert to commemorate the ongoing significance of this event, to honor the lives lost, and to provide some solace to the burdens we continue to bear. Even though most of our current students were not alive when it happened, it was an event of such magnitude that should never be forgotten.”
Horn Choir: 9/11 Remembrance Concert
Wednesday, September 11 at 11:30 a.m. in Kilbourn Hall
Peter Kurau, director
SFC J.G. Miller ’06E, guest horn
This event is free and open to the public.