CCM Welcomes Denise Tryon as Associate Professor of Horn

CCM Interim Dean bruce d. mcclung has announced the addition of acclaimed hornist Denise Tryon to the college’s roster of distinguished performance faculty members. Tryon’s appointment as Associate Professor of Horn begins on Aug. 15, 2018.

An accomplished performer and educator, Tryon is a native of Roseville, MN, and has served as Horn Professor at the Peabody Conservatory in Baltimore since 2007. Previously, Tryon was fourth horn of the Philadelphia Orchestra (2009-17). She has also held positions with the Detroit (2003-09), Baltimore (2000-03), Columbus (1998-2000) and New World (1995-98) Symphonies as well as participated in the Colorado Music Festival and the Pacific Music Festival. A celebrated solo performer, Tryon has performed recitals in Sweden, Norway, Poland, Japan, Canada and the United States.

In 1989 Tryon graduated from the famed Interlochen Arts Academy and in 1993 received her Bachelor of Music degree from the New England Conservatory of Music (NEC) in Boston. She received the Presidential Scholarship while in the Artist Diploma Program at NEC with the Taiyo Wind Quintet, which won the Coleman Chamber Competition and worked with renowned composers such as Luciano Berio, Elliott Carter, John Harbison and György Ligeti.

An active and esteemed educator, Tryon is sought out for her master classes. She has taught extensively in the United States, Scandinavia, Europe, Asia and South America. Beth Graham of the Warsaw Philharmonic and founder of the Warsaw Horn Workshops explains, “In just a few seconds of listening to a student she can diagnose deep-seated problems and give immediate fixes, often with a healthy dose of humor as well. The transformations she can accomplish in just a short time are truly remarkable.”

Tryon released her debut solo album, SO•LOW, in 2015. As a part of this album, she commissioned four new pieces for low horn and piano. A review by Gramophone Magazine observed, “Tryon plays these works with sonorous fluidity and dexterity, ending with a bit of captivating acrobatics.” SO•LOW received a Global Music Award, Bronze Medal.

In 2009 Tryon founded yearly horn seminar Audition Mode with Karl Pituch. In 2010 she was an International Horn Society (IHS) Northeast Workshop Featured Artist. She was a contributing artist at the IHS Symposium in San Francisco in 2011, as well as one of the Solo Artists at the Nordic Hornfest in Norway in 2012. Tryon was on the horn faculty at BIBA (Blekinge International Brass Academy) in Sweden in 2013. She has been the Featured Artist at the Warsaw Horn Workshops in 2013, 2015 and 2016. Tryon was a Featured Artist at the IHS MidNorth Horn Workshop in 2014 and 2016, and in 2015 she was a Featured Artist at the IHS Symposium in LA. In 2016, Tryon was on faculty during the brass weeks at Domaine Forget. Tryon was the Featured Artist at the IHS NorthWest Horn Workshop in 2017.

On the announcement of her appointment, mcclung commented, “Tryon is a superb addition to our faculty and a most appropriate successor to Professor Randy Gardner, who retires this spring after a distinguished 22-year tenure at CCM. Tryon’s expertise as a performing artist, orchestral musician and pedagogue will help us continue to prepare future generations of performing artists for positions with leading orchestras and on the world’s stage. I am grateful to Horn Search Committee Chair James Bunte and committee members Timothy Anderson, Timothy Northcut, Sandra Rivers and Alan Siebert for their work and dedication to find CCM’s next great horn professor.”

You can learn  more about Tryon by visiting http://denisetryon.com.

Please join us in welcoming Professor Tryon to the CCM family!

CCM Now Accepting Applications for Graduate Brass Quintet Fellowship

CCM is now accepting applications for its inaugural Graduate Brass Quintet. This prestigious Fellowship Program is open to highly qualified trumpet, horn, trombone and tuba players. Pre-formed Quintets are preferred but not required.

The members of CCM’s Graduate Brass Quintet Fellowship program will receive full tuition scholarship support and a graduate assistantship stipend of $8,000 per academic year. Fellows must be enrolled in a two-year Master of Music (MM) or Artist Diploma (AD) program at CCM.

Fellows will receive guidance from CCM’s illustrious faculty members including Phil Collins, Alan Siebert, Tim Anderson, Peter Norton and Tim Northcut, as well as guest artists like Alison Balsom, Warren Deck, the American Brass Quintet, the Army Band Brass Quintet and Harmonic Brass.

The Graduate Brass Quintet will coach undergraduate winds and brass chamber ensembles. The Quintet will give full recitals on campus and must attend one chamber music competition per year with available travel funding assistance.

Brass Studies at CCM connects students to a powerful network of nationally and internationally renowned teachers and performers. Our graduates draw on this network to begin their own careers as soloists, chamber musicians, teachers and players with major symphony orchestras and premier military bands.

Application Requirements
CCM is now accepting applications for Fall 2018. A complete application includes an online application, transcript(s), letters of recommendation, 500-word personal statement and a live interview at CCM. The application deadline is Friday, Dec. 1, 2017. Learn more at ccm.uc.edu/apply.

2018 Audition Dates at CCM

• Pre-formed Quintets: Feb. 16-17
• Trumpet: Feb. 16-17
• Horn: Jan. 13 & 27
• Trombone: Jan. 13 & 27, Feb. 17
• Tuba: Feb. 16

Additional Information
For more information, please contact CCM Admissions at 513-556-9478 or email ccmadmis@uc.edu.

CCM Horn Student Named 2017 Yamaha Young Performing Artist

CCM student Michelle Hembree is one of 10 winners of the 2017 Yamaha Young Performing Artists (YYPA) Competition. Hembree is a third-year undergraduate horn student who studies with CCM Winds and Percussion Department Chair Randy Gardner.

“Michelle Hembree is one of the most musically gifted and intellectually brilliant students I’ve had the privilege to teach during my long career,” says Gardner. “She is also an upbeat, friendly and enthusiastic person who is respected by and popular with her fellow students and faculty alike.”

As a winner of the competition, Hembree will receive an all-expense-paid trip to the YYPA Celebration Weekend June 24-27, 2017, which will take place during the Music for All Summer Symposium, to be held at Ball State University in Muncie, Indiana, from June 24-July 1, 2017. Winners will receive a once-in-a-lifetime performance opportunity in front of thousands, national press coverage and will participate in workshops designed to launch a professional music career.

Hembree will perform Eugene Bozza’s En Foret at Ball State this summer. As a Yamaha Young Performing Artist, Hembree will receive a professional recording of the performance, a professional photography session and services and support from Yamaha Artist Relations.

“I am excited to perform this summer,” says Hembree. “En Foret is a fun piece with a little bit of everything in it. This is a great opportunity to network and meet other musicians, as well as learn more about the performance and education industry.”

Hembree joins a distinguished company of more than 250 talented musicians who have been recognized since the program’s inception. CCM alumnus Austin Larson (BM Horn, 2012) became a Yamaha Young Performing Artist in 2011; he is now a member of the Colorado Symphony Orchestra. Many winners have established successful music careers, both as performers and educators, including Ricardo Morales, principal clarinetist of the Philadelphia Orchestra; Alex Han, saxophonist with Marcus Miller; Otis Murphy, professor, Indiana University; Conrad Jones, principal trumpeter with the Indianapolis Symphony; and Aaron Parks, acclaimed jazz pianist.

“The YYPA Program is a significant opportunity for young musicians who are embarking on careers as professionals, and one of the most visible and distinctive ways that Yamaha offers valuable support for music education,” said John Wittmann, director of education and artist relations, Yamaha Artist Services Indianapolis. “We are pleased to honor Michelle at this pivotal stage in her career.”

For more information about the Yamaha Young Performing Artists Program, visit http://4wrd.it/YYPA.

About Michelle Hembree
Hembree has received numerous awards and accolades during the course of her young career. She is the CCM Kemp Horn scholar of her class and has won numerous awards including second place in the Three Arts Scholarship Competition, the CCM Undergraduate Instrumentalist Solo Contest, YoungArts Merit award, Meridian Symphony Solo Competition and Boise Philharmonic Youth Orchestra Solo Competition. She has participated in several ensembles including the Sarasota Music Festival, National Youth Orchestra of the U.S.A., Voksenasen Norwegian Summer Academy and Boise Philharmonic Youth Orchestra. In the spring of 2016, Hembree performed first horn on Schumann’s “Konzertstück for Four Horns” with Seven Hills Sinfonietta. Hembree has played with renowned artists including Valery Gergiev, Larry Rachleff, Joshua Bell and Nicholas McGean. Her previous teachers include Dr. David Saunders and Lawrence Johnson.

About Yamaha
Yamaha Corporation of America (YCA) is one of the largest subsidiaries of Yamaha Corporation, Japan and offers a full line of award-winning musical instruments, sound reinforcement, commercial installation and home entertainment products to the U.S. market. Products include: Yamaha acoustic, digital and hybrid pianos, portable keyboards, guitars, acoustic and electronic drums, band and orchestral instruments, marching percussion products, synthesizers, professional digital and analog audio equipment, Steinberg recording products and NEXO commercial audio products, as well as AV receivers, amplifiers, MusicCast wireless multiroom audio systems, Blu-ray/CD players, earphones, headphones, home-theater-in-a-box systems, sound bars and its exclusive line of Digital Sound Projectors. YCA markets innovative, finely crafted technology and entertainment products and musical instruments targeted to the hobbyist, education, worship, music, professional audio installation and consumer markets.

____

Story by CCM graduate assistant Charlotte Kies

CCM Holds Inaugural Andrew Howell Memorial Scholarship Competition

UC’s College-Conservatory of Music will hold the inaugural Andrew Howell Memorial Scholarship Competition 2 p.m., Sunday, March 26, 2017
 in the Robert J. Werner Recital Hall. The performance is a free event and open to the public.

CCM honors the memory of student Andrew Howell with a Memorial Scholarship Competition on Sunday, March 26, 2017.

This competition is held in loving memory of Andrew Howell, an extraordinary musician and an exceptional person who passed away during his undergraduate studies at CCM. A junior from Charlotte, N.C., Howell was a member of the CCM horn studio and a student of Randy Gardner.

Open to current undergraduate horn majors as well as applicants who have committed to attend CCM in 2017-18, the winner of the Andrew Howell Memorial Horn Scholarship Competition will receive a one-year $3,000 scholarship and a solo performance opportunity.

The scholarship will be offered annually to support the studies of an exceptional undergraduate horn student and perpetuate Andrew’s memory.

Application Details
The application deadline is March 10, 2017.

For further details and an application, contact Professor Randy Gardner at randy.gardner@uc.edu.

About Andrew Austin Howell

Andrew Howell (1990-2010) was beginning his third year as a horn performance major at CCM when he died in an outdoor accident on October 23, 2010 while admiring the bright night sky above the lights of the city below.

Andrew was a student of Randy Gardner, and a well loved member of the CCM community. He is remembered by his family, friends and classmates for his genuine encouragement of others, his love of animals, his charming and unassuming manner, and for his rare sense of humor. He had a musical soul, possessing a broad appreciation for the world and the people around him.

Born into a family of professional church musicians, Andrew was immersed in music from his earliest days, demonstrating a keen observation and attention to musical performances and shows. In addition to his skilled horn playing, he loved to sing and improvise on the piano. Whether he was painting, photographing, singing or playing, Andrew pursued an artful expression of what he saw as a beautiful world.

A participant in the Pensacola Children’s Chorus, the Charlotte Children’s Choir, the Charlotte Symphony Youth Orchestra and the music programs of his churches and schools, Andrew was happiest making music. He studied horn with Bob Blalock of the Charlotte Symphony and spent summers studying at the Brevard Music Center Summer Institute and Festival, the Tanglewood Horn Workshop, and the Chautauqua Music Festival with Richard Deane, Kristy Morrell, Jean Martin-Williams, Eric Ruske and Roger Kaza.

Event Information

Performance Time
2 p.m., Sunday, March 26

Location
Robert J. Werner Recital Hall, CCM Village,
University of Cincinnati

Admission
Admission is free and open to the public.

Parking and Directions
Parking is available in the CCM Garage (located at the base of Corry Boulevard off Jefferson Avenue) and additional garages throughout the campus of the University of Cincinnati. Please visit uc.edu/parking for more information on parking rates.

For detailed maps and directions, please visit uc.edu/visitors. Additional parking is available off-campus at the U Square complex on Calhoun Street and other neighboring lots.

For directions to CCM Village, visit ccm.uc.edu/about/directions.

CCM Alumnus Austin Larson Joins the Colorado Symphony

CCM alumnus Austin Larson. Photography by Pete Checchia.

We are delighted to report that CCM alumnus Austin Larson (BM French Horn, 2012) has joined the Colorado Symphony as Assistant Principal Horn.

Larson has previously held the Second Horn position with New Jersey’s Symphony in C (formerly the Haddonfield Symphony) in addition to summer positions with the Spoleto Festival USA Orchestra and Verbier Festival Orchestra in Switzerland.

Larson has been highly successful in many competitions, including First Prize wins in both the International Horn Competition of America and the International Horn Society’s Premier Soloist Competition. Larson has also appeared as a soloist at the Music for All Symposium, International Horn Symposium and twice on Wisconsin Public Radio. You can learn more about some of Larson’s competition wins here.

A native of Neenah, Wisconsin, Larson holds degrees from both CCM and the Curtis Institute of Music. While at CCM, he studied with Professor of Horn Randy Gardner.

A strong believer in music advocacy, Larson has also been involved with numerous charitable organizations, including Horns a Plenty Christmas and Classical Revolution, and has raised funds for music scholarships both at UC and in the Northeast Wisconsin area.

For more information, visit www.austin-larson.com.

CCM Presents ‘Prism XVI: From Fanfares to Festivities’ on Feb. 27

CCM hosts a musical celebration during the annual Prism Concert!

CCM presents its 16th annual Prism Concert at 4 p.m. on Sunday, Feb. 24 in UC’s Corbett Auditorium. This perennially popular concert features performances by CCM’s jazz, vocal, brass choir, percussion and wind ensembles.

The Bearcat Bands Drumline, a horn and harp duo, a piano soloist and the CCM Preparatory Department’s Cincinnati Youth Wind Ensemble will also be featured during this concert’s 60 minutes of nonstop music. Glenn D. Price and Terence Milligan conduct.

Keep the chill away by surrounding yourself with warm sounds from various locations in Corbett Auditorium! This year’s theme, “From Fanfares to Festivities,” promises to be exciting from start to finish with iconic music honoring events and celebrations.

CCM Horn Performance Major Wins Neale-Silva Young Artists’ Competition

Congratulations to horn performance major Austin Larson, who has been named one of five winners of Wisconsin Public Radio’s Neale-Silva Young Artists’ Competition! The performance of Larson’s winning solo will be broadcast live on Wisconsin Public Radio at 12:30 p.m. this Sunday, May 13. Larson currently studies with Randy C. Gardner, Professor of Horn at CCM.

Learn more about Larson’s win here.