HORN CALL REVISITED

posted by James Reel

    Regarding my post on the imminent departure of Tucson Symphony principal hornist Jacquelyn Sellers, my colleague Michael Dauphinais writes:

    I was struck by your blog entry on Ms. Sellers. This past weekend, I had the privilege of substituting for principal keyboardist Paula Fan for the TSO's "Picnic in the Park" concert, and was seated in a rather adventurous spot, sonically speaking: smack in between the bass drum and the horn section. The bass drum didn't bother me as I am a recovering percussionist and know full well what those guys have to do during works such as "1812" Overture. But what struck me throughout the progam, what little I played of it, was the quality of the horn section as a whole. They made those stereotypical horn offbeats seem as easy as childsplay most of the time and played with wonderful crisp articulation as a group (5 horns in this particular gig). Shostakovich's "Festive Overture" was a showpiece for them, and I admired their execution of it in every rehearsal and performance. I'm sorry to see Ms. Sellers go, as she obviously has imparted a high artistic level to her section over her years at the TSO.