I will be holding a 3-day French horn workshop, June 22-24. This will be for students and enthusiasts of all ages – from middle school through adult – and from throughout all of Southern California. I encourage horn players of all ages and experience to attend. Already, there are middle school students who have confirmed that they will be attending, as well as a 68-year young gentleman, and everything in between – people from Pt. Loma in San Diego to Hemet in Riverside County.
3-DAY EVENT
Begin on Friday evening, June 22, and finish on Sunday evening, June 24. The focus for the weekend will be to learn how to maximize the time invested so that horn students and enthusiasts can get the most productivity out of their daily experience and to make practicing as enjoyable as possible. The weekend will include master classes, a mock audition with discussion, horn choir rehearsals, and will conclude with an informal public performance.
Topics will include:
- Focused practice for maximum results
- Intention – setting up our targets
- Upper and lower registers
- Reinforcing what we already know and applying that information in all circumstances
- Musicianship – phrasing
- Air, lips, tongue – each has a specific “job”
Schedule
Friday, June 22 5:00 PM-10:00 PM
- Register, meet/greet
- Master class
- Horn choir rehearsal
Saturday, June 23 9:30-12:00 AM Lunch 1:30-4:30 PM Dinner 6:30-10:00 PM
- Master classes
- Mock auditions
- Horn choir rehearsals
Sunday, June 24 1:30-5:00 Dinner 7:00
- Master class
- Horn choir rehearsal
- Public performance
There is a charge for the weekend event, of course, but I want to make it affordable and worth everyone’s investment. The pre-paid price for registration before June 18th is $50 a person for the entire weekend (quite a bargain!). The price after the 18th and at the door will be $75. If anyone would like to attend just one day, the fee will be $25/day. I think this will be really exciting – a way to further increase one’s knowledge of music making and specifically, horn playing. Plus, it will also be a fun way to bring horn players from San Diego and the Inland Empire together with our common interest and this shared experience.
I am including my professional experience at the end of this email for reference.
All best wishes,
Warren Gref
2nd Horn – San Diego Symphony
Warren Gref – summary of professional experience
- Auditioned for and was awarded a contract with the San Diego Symphony just before senior year in high school – played that season as Assistant Principal horn – Zoltan Rozsnyai, conductor (resigned the following year to go away to college)
- Studied at University of Southern California and the Cleveland Institute of Music
- Principal teachers were Wendell Hoss and Myron Bloom
- At 21, auditioned for and was contracted with the San Antonio Symphony
- 7 Summers as Principal horn and on the faculty at the Brevard Music Center in North Carolina
- 1973-74 Lecturer in Horn at the University of Georgia
- 1974-77 Lecturer in Horn at the University of New Mexico
- 1977 Principal horn for the National Opera of Mexico in Mexico City
- 1977-79 Free lance work in the LA area
- 1979-present – San Diego Symphony
- for 15 years, was a member of the San Diego Chamber Orchestra (Principal horn and also 2nd horn – played on several commercial recordings)
- 1990-present – Adjunct faculty at UCSD (University of California, San Diego)
- 1998-2000 Substitute 4th horn with LA Philharmonic including 3-week European Tour, East Coast tour (including Avery Fischer Hall, NYC; Kennedy Center, Washington, D.C.) and several recordings.
- 1997-2004 Considerable free-lance work in the Los Angeles TV and Motion Picture studios (Paramount, Warner Brothers, Sony, Capitol, Fox)
- 1995-present
- 2003 – performed on a CD which won a Grammy (Chamber Music of Carlos Chavez)
What: Weekend French Horn Workshop
When: June 22, 23, 24
Where: SAINT THOMAS OF CANTERBURY EPISCOPAL CHURCH
44651 Avenida de Missiones
Temecula CA 92592