The Western Illinois Horn Festival - Western Illinois University

Western Hornist

The Western Illinois Horn Festival - 2003

Dedicated to the memory of Helen Kotas Hirsch

April 6, 2003

*THE WESTERN ILLINOIS HORN INSTITUTE, with support from THE ILLINOIS ARTS COUNCIL, and The WOMEN’S STUDIES CENTER of WESTERN ILLINOIS UNIVERSITY presented THE WESTERN ILLINOIS HORN FESTIVAL-2003 “Dedicated to the memory of Helen Kotas Hirsch,” on April 6, 2003.

Featured hornists and lecturers included Natural Hornist and composer Lowell Greer, hornist and scholar Eva Heater, University of Oregon horn professor Ellen Campbell, and the horn professor at West Virginia University and Past President of the International Horn Society: Virginia Thompson.

HELEN KOTAS HIRSCH

For many years, Helen Kotas Hirsch was the horn teacher at both the Sherwood Conservatory of Music and the American Conservatory of Music in Chicago. She was engaged as Principal Hornist of the Chicago Symphony by Dr. Frederick Stock in 1941 and performed with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra from 1941-1949. In addition, she also had a notable career as Principal Hornist with the Chicago Lyric Opera; the Grant Park Symphony Orchestra; the Women's Symphony Orchestra of Chicago, (first conducted by Frederick Stock); and the All-American Youth Orchestra, conducted by Leopold Stokowski.

OPENING RECITAL

Helen Kotas Hirsch was active in the performance of new works by composers in the Chicago area. Consequently, the Western Illinois Horn Festival remembered her contributions to the development of horn literature through the performances by Eva Heater, Ellen Campbell, and Virginia Thompson of works Helen had premiered:

The Sonata No. 2 for Horn and Piano by Hugo Kauder
The Sonata for Horn and Piano by Ernst Lévy
The Serenade (Le Son du Cor) for Horn and Piano by Arne Oldberg

The Serenade ( Le Son du Cor) by Arne Oldberg was premiered by Helen Kotas and the Tri-Cities Symphony Orchestra conducted by Harry John Brown on November 28, 1953. In 1953, the Principal Hornist of the Tri-Cities Symphony Orchestra was Paul Anderson (later President of the International Horn Society). Mr. Anderson performed the solo part of this work in rehearsals prior to Helen’s premiere of the work. The Western Illinois Horn Festival was honored to have Mr. Anderson in attendance at this fiftieth anniversary performance by Virginia Thompson.

The recital opened with moving words of tribute to Helen Kotas Hirsch by Virginia Thompson and a performance of Le Son du Cor, (a different composition for Horn Ensemble also by Arne Oldberg), performed by The Western Illinois University CORnucopia, Randall Faust, conductor, with hornists: Satoko Arima, Mary Rudd, Adam Beck, Laura T. Smith, Jerry Beck, John Versluis, Laurel Filzen, Karla Vilchez, Douglas Reiners, Muriel Ward, Christina Roth, and Elizabeth Zeng

LECTURE—LOWELL GREER and EVA HEATER

An important presentation of the Western Illinois Horn Festival was the lecture session jointly presented by two former students of Helen Kotas Hirsch—Lowell Greer and Eva Heater. Both Lowell and Eva shared many personal glimpses into Helen’s life and work. Eva, who also presented another lecture to the Women’s History classes on the Women’s Symphony Orchestra movement, provided a unique historical perspective. Lowell also shared a copy of old recordings of Helen performing The Birds by Resphighi and The Water Music by Handel. In spite of the rustic nature of the old recordings, one could hear the clear and resonant sound of Helen’s horn leading the orchestra.

MASTER CLASS

A regular and popular part of the Horn Festival was the Master Class presented by Lowell Greer. Performing for Lowell were students Amber Dean and Robert Palmer. Lowell’s class brought out some important concepts on playing position, efficiency in tone production, and his observations on dealing with the question of dental braces.

FINALE RECITAL

The Final Recital of the Western Illinois Horn Festival 2003, Dedicated to the Memory of Helen Kotas Hirsch, featured the WIU CORnucopia, Festival Horn Choir, hornist, natural hornist and composer Lowell Greer, assisted by Jason Aquila, piano, Anita Werling, organ, Bruce Gardner, tenor, John Mindeman, trombone, Randall Faust, horn and trompe de chasse, Abigail Pack, trompe de chasse (Horn Professor, James Madison University), Virginia Thompson, trompe de chasse (Horn Professor, West Virginia University), Eva Heater, trompe de chasse (Historic Brass Society, Yale University), Denise Root, trompe de chasse (Visiting Horn Professor, Eastern Michigan University).

The recital began with Horn Choir performances of Wagner’s Elsa’s Procession to the Cathedral and the Pantomime from Hansel and Gretel by Humperdinck, followed by hornist Lowell Greer, assisted by pianist Jason Aquila performing The Death of Roland for Solo Horn by Lowell Greer, Andante for Horn and Piano by Vincent d’Indy, and Air de Chasse for Horn and Piano by Louis Piantoni. The feature of the recital was the presentation of original works by Lowell Greer: Battalia di Romani e Belgi Antigui for Horn and Trombone (2001), Gallatin Fanfare for Eight Hunting Horns (1996), and the world premiere of Requiem de Chasseur (2003—In memoriam Helen Kotas Hirsch) for tenor, organ and an ensemble of trompes de chasse.

In his eulogy of Helen Kotas Hirsch, Lowell remarked that it was at Helen’s suggestion that he study the natural horn. Judging from the performances of compositions for natural horn at the Western Illinois Horn Festival, it was a suggestion well received: the sounds of the choirs of Trompes de Chasse, organ and natural horns must still be reverberating around the church!

Randall E. Faust, Director, The Western Illinois Horn Institute and Host The Western Illinois Horn Festival, 2003