Horns of Plenty
The latst Octave 9 Series program puts the horns in the spotlight.
From left: John Turman, Jenna Breen and Jeffrey Fair will all be performing in The Living Horn on March 31, 2023. Photo by James Holt.
By Leilani Polk
The next exciting program happening in Octave 9: Raisbeck Music Center features members of the Seattle Symphony’s horn section. The Living Horn explores the acoustic and visual possibilities of the Octave 9 space in combination with the instrument’s unique tonal qualities and directional properties.
The program showcases music by living composers who explore spatial sound for (French) horn. The horn players perform as a quartet in Robyn’s Indestructible (arr. Danielle Kuhlmann), William May’s “Four Moods for Four Horns,” Alisson Kruusmaa’s Laulud mustast liblikast (songs of a black butterfly), Caroline Shaw’s Its Motion Keeps (arr. John Glover) and Brandi Carlile’s Josephine (arr. Evan Kuhlmann). Three solo works by David Byrd-Marrow are also on tap — Singing Meditation featuring John Turman, Dancing Meditation featuring Principal Horn Jeffrey Fair and Cascadia featuring Danielle Kuhlmann — and Jenna Breen takes the solo spotlight for Dante Yenque’s Tanguito. The concert comes to a head with a brand-new Seattle Symphony commission by vocalist, composer, arranger and multi-instrumentalist Shanyse Strickland, whose primary instrument is the horn. The new work is titled Empathy.
According to Strickland, “Empathy is a piece written by an empath, for all empaths and people who believe the concept is a core key of being a good human being. The piece begins with a call-and-response effect amongst the horn section, symbolizing the listening and understanding aspects of empathy. The music then starts to develop a sound of oneness, with minimalistic statements eliminating the identity of single voices and priority listening for the audience. The piece was inspired by multiple perspectives on what the definition of ‘empathy’ is.” Strickland’s piece uses effects pedals to open up the possibilities of creating unique sounds while also preserving the instrument’s timbre.
Seating is extremely limited at Octave 9 concerts — only 80 people at most for each show — so reserve your tickets now (Friday, March 31, at 7pm & 9pm, 2023).
Octave 9: Emerging Artists is supported by the Paul G. Allen Family Foundation.
Jeffrey Fair’s position is generously underwritten as the Charles Simonyi Principal Horn.
The Living Horn is presented as part of the Seattle Symphony’s New Music WORKS initiative, which is supported in part by a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts. New Music WORKS features commissions, concerts and educational activities that use composition as a catalyst for collaboration and engagement in music.