Texas Tech University School of Music Horn Studio strongly represented at the International Horn Competition of America and the International Horn Symposium!
Both the International Horn Competition of America (IHCA) and the International Horn Symposium (IHS) was hosted in Colorado State University in Fort Collins, Colorado on July 25th to August 2nd.
Photo Credit: International Horn Society
Professor of Horn, Christopher M. Smith, contributed as one of eleven university division adjudicators for the IHCA and performed at the opening concert for the Symposium. Not only did Professor Smith perform, but so did the Texas Tech students who were competing in the IHCA. These students were Esteban Chavez (MM horn performance), Quentin Fisher (MM horn performance), and Jack Mellinger (BA horn performance). In the competition, there were 102 registered university competitors. Esteban Chavez and Jack Mellinger narrowly missed advancing to the second round by just one vote. Quentin Fisher advanced to the second round, joining ten others, and came close to reaching the final round of four finalists, missing out by only one vote!
Photo Credit: Brent Shires
Vivian Chang, a 2024 DMA Horn Performance alumna and newly appointed horn professor at Coastal Carolina University, presented a lecture at the International Horn Symposium on "Functions of Musical Silence in Selected Unaccompanied Repertoire" by Malcolm Arnold and Otto Ketting. She also participated in a panel discussion with the Chromatic Brass Collective, an organization for brass musicians who are raising awareness of “racially and ethnically underrepresented women and gender non-conforming people throughout the brass world.” (CBC Website)
Photo Credit: Vivian Chang
Cara Kizer, a 2004 BM Horn Performance alumna, was one of ten adjudicators for the Professional Division at the IHCA. Her fellow judges included members from prestigious orchestras such as the New York Philharmonic, Cincinnati Symphony, Dallas Symphony, Detroit Symphony, Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, Radio Symphony Orchestra of Berlin, Northern German Radio Symphony Orchestra-Hamburg, and the Bayerische Rundfunk Orchestra in Munich.
Congratulations to the Horn Studio on this summer’s distinguished accomplishments!