16 Apr 2024
I always pictured Tasmania as a place I would like to live. I enjoy cooler climates, and value having such easy access to so much beautiful nature. I also appreciate smaller cities like Hobart that offer plenty of good food and culture, but that allow for a more relaxed pace of life. The opportunity to have all of that and a full-time orchestral job in such a high-level ensemble is pretty special, and quite unique in Australia.
My first long term teacher, Campbell Barnes, could produce the most beautiful tone on the horn, and I think this really influenced my own sound concept. All my horn teachers throughout my professional training have given me invaluable lessons and inspiration, not only in terms of making music and honing my skills on the horn, but also in terms of life skills like confidence and perseverance. The same can easily be said of so many of my friends and colleagues.
When I was almost 9 years old, I was apparently interested in brass instruments. I think this was partly to do with having some neighbourhood friends who were learning trumpet...though they told me I couldn't play trumpet because they did! So, my parents took me to a local brass teacher, and I got to hear and try the different instruments – I liked the sound of the horn when the teacher demonstrated it, and am told I could get a decent sound out of it myself. At that stage I was too small to hold it properly, but gradually grew into it, and music and playing the horn have been a constant in my life since then.
Over the years, the horn has directly and indirectly influenced just about all parts of my life, from the friends I have made, and meeting my wife, to the places I have visited and lived around the world. Through playing horn I have experienced both great frustration and intense joy and learned many valuable life lessons.
The opening to the Finale of Bruckner's 8th Symphony.
Being a horn player, I would definitely include Bruckner's Fourth Symphony (Nobuyuki Tsujii).
The Video Game music concert should also be a good one – some works will definitely be nostalgic for me, but there are some really great compositions in the video game world, which can certainly be enjoyed by non-gamers.
I would also include the Beethoven's Fifth concert – Beethoven 5 is of course great, but mainly because Mahler's Rückert Lieder will be sublime.
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Leave all your daily concerns at the door, as well as any expectations or preconceptions for the concert, and simply be open to an experience.
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