The Alphorn Podcast

Sean, Robert and Sonja discuss the newly formed AANA which stands for the Alphorn Association Of North America.  They discuss it's origins and the plans for the future.If you are interested in getting involved with AANA, please reach out to sonja.reynolds@alpensong.com.Alpensong.comAlphorninstitue.comAANA Webstie Coming Soon!For information about the Tahoe Alphorn Seminar and to register, click here. 

Sean, Robert and Sonja Reynolds meet with Peggy DeMers.  They discuss Peggys most recent accomplishment of her English translation of the A. L. Gassmann’s s’Alphornbüechli, Blast mir das Alphorn noch einmal!  Commonly known as the bible of the alphorn. Links mentioned in the episode. The Little Alphorn BookPeggy Demers

Sean & Robert discuss their experiences performing for the international alphorn competition in Nendaz Switzerland and also discuss recent alphorn events, including The North American Alphorn Retreat.  The North American Alphorn Retreat   

Thank you to everyone who came out to our Windy City event! It was great to see all of you. If you missed out on this event, but want to catch us later this year, visit our website to learn more about upcoming events!  Catch us on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter for more updates! Links mentioned in the episode:A Singing Approach to Horn Playing: Pitch, Rhythm, and Harmony Training for Horn  by Dr. Natalie GranaTonalEnergy App

Following his graduation from the Ohio State University, Jim worked as a band director with Columbus Public Schools from 1969 until his retirement in 2004. Jim bought his first alphorn while he was on tour in Austria with a German choir. After playing solo alphorn for several years, he started playing trios with a group in 2008 which has transformed into the group Alphorn Gruezie. Jim also works along side Angela Buckley and Dave Sabatka in the Ohio Alphorn Band. In addition to his schedule of live performances, Jim focuses his energy on continuing to educate aspiring musicians and owns several alphorns for the purpose of running master classes and making them available to people who are interested in learning to play the alphornLearn more about Jim: https://news.wosu.org/show/classical-music-with-jennifer-hambrick/2017-12-14/ohio-alphorn-ensemble-to-open-35th-anniversary-of-merry-tubachristmas-columbushttps://theohioalphornband.com/gallery-1https://alphorngruezie.wordpress.com/about/ Visit the Alphorn Institute website here!Find us on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter! @alphorninstitute 

From her bio: "Annette was born in Cardiff and at the age of 8 decided she wanted to play the trombone but was told that her arms were too short. She is eternally grateful for that teacher’s wisdom and began playing the horn instead, rapidly progressing through the local youth ensembles and eventually going on to become principal horn of the National Youth Orchestra of Wales.Annette studied BMus at Manchester University and Masters at Trinity College of Music. Whilst living in London she worked with various UK orchestras and gained a place on the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment’s experience scheme on the natural horn. In 2013 She moved to Zürich to study at the Zürcher Hochschule der Künste. During her studies she played with the Zürich Opera Orchestra and was the horn Academist of Bern Sinfonieorchester for the 2014-2015 season.In 2016 Annette played for 3 Months as principal horn of the Bulgarian State Opera, Stara Zagora before returning to Zürich where she currently works as a freelance horn and alphorn player, manages The Alpine Sisters and is studying a Master of Advanced Studies in clinical music therapy." Learn more about Annette and her sisters at http://thealpinesisters.org/.Come play with other Alpornists at our series of events this year! Check out the dates and locations at https://www.alphorninstitute.com/events.  

In this episode, Bill discusses how he discovered his love for the alphorn, the McNeese Alphorn group, how he gets young adults and kids interested in playing the alphorn, points of inflection, and his process for composing alphorn music. Visit the Alphorn Institute website here!Find Bill's publishers: TAP Music, Kagarice Brass Editions, Gulfwind Music Press, Treble C Music, Fred Bock Music, Editions BIM, Warwick Press and GIA Music.Read Bill's biography HERE.

We are excited to be launching season two of the Alphorn podcast. In this episode we discuss everything listed above, but fun digressions include: the Wasatch mountain peaks, Robert and Tony's adventures with creating mouth pieces, Sean's endeavors to create composite alphorns, plans to play the alphorn in Greenland, and debate on when Robert had his first paid alphorn performance.  Visit our website here.Learn more about the different alphorn events happening by visiting this link!

Alexandre Jous is an accomplished alphorn player as well as an ardent explorer.   Alexandre's passion is taking the alphorn to new heights, quite literally by climbing some of the largest mountains in the world and playing his alphorn atop of those peaks.  In this episode we learn about his journey that led him to the alphorn and also learn about his film, Each Mountain Has The Right To Its Own Music.  http://www.alexandrejous.com/https://www.facebook.com/Alexandrejousalexcorhttps://www.instagram.com/alexandrejous/https://www.youtube.com/c/alexandrejous

Hubert Hense is a world renowned maker of exceptional Alphorns and he has been crafting these expertly made Alphorns since 2003.  In this episode, Sean and Robert explore his story of why he decided to start making Alphorns and also discover what makes these unique instruments so special.  Hubert's Websitehttp://www.alphornbauhense.de/Hubert's Facebookhttps://www.facebook.com/AlphornbauHenseHubert's Instagramhttps://www.instagram.com/alphornbau/

In this episode, Robert & Sean meet again with Brian Priebe and discuss with him about his experience's of being an instructor at the North American Alphorn Retreat both this year and in previous years.  https://www.alphornretreat.com

Sean & Robert meet with Monica Hambrick and Jim Hopson during the North American Alphorn Retreat.  In this episode, they talk about their experiences as being instructors at the North American Alphorn retreat over the years and what kind of projects they might have in the future.  The North American Alphorn Retreathttps://www.alphornretreat.comThe Appalachian Alphorn Adventurehttps://www.alphornadventure.com

Brandi & Lindsey Jones are the owners of Silver & Brass Music Shop in Carson City NV, an instrument shop that specializes in restoring and selling vintage brass instruments. They both are very talented musicians and began their alphorn journey just a few years ago.  In this episode, we learn about what lead them to owning a small business and the in's and out's of not only playing the alphorn but building one as well.  sierrahorns.orgsilverandbrassmusic.com

Sean & Robert meet with Tony Brazelton during The North American Alphorn Retreat and discuss all things alphorn. Tony has been a shepherd of the alphorn for many years, not only in playing the instrument itself but also in collecting and selling some of the best made instrument's in the world. In this episode, we learn about Tonys history with the alphorn and how the Alphorn retreat came to be.

Sean & Robert reflect on past interviews and discuss the topics that they found particularly interesting.  They also talk about the upcoming North American Alphorn Retreat and forecast the vision of future alphorn events in North America.   For more information on The North American Alphorn Retreat please visit - https://www.alphornretreat.com

Arkady Shilkloper is a world renowned horn player and multi-instrumentalist.  The list of groups he has performed with is extensive but to name a few, we have the Orchestra of the Bolshoi Theatre, Moscow Art Trio, and Pago Libre.  The list goes on.  In this episode we learn about Arkady's story of becoming one of the most well known horn players in the world.  Arkady's Youtube Channelhttps://www.youtube.com/channel/UC1sHsB4wKJyNLZx22bg86rAArkady's Facebook Pagehttps://www.facebook.com/shilkloper1956/

Jake Martin is a talented composer, producer and songwriter.  He graduated from Berklee College of Music in 2020, earning a bachelors degree in composition and songwriting.  He has written music for multiple different podcasts, business's and artists in including his own act as a singer/songwriter.  In this episode, we learn about how Jake has been introduced to the Alphorn and his process in writing new music for the instrument.  Jake's Websitehttps://jakemartinmusic.com

Monica Hambrick is an accomplished freelance Alphorn player and teacher.  She is also the founder of the Appalachian Alphorn Adventure located in the beautiful New River Gorge of West Virginia.  In this episode we learn about Monicas teaching history and how curating Alphorn events are helpful in growing the Alphorn community in North America.   https://www.alphornadventure.com

Peggy DeMers is a professor of Horn at Sam Houston State University in Huntsville, Texas. She studied music and horn at the Cincinnati Conservatory, earning her M.M, and at the University of Wisconsin earning both her B.M and D.M.A. In this episode we learn about her journey of becoming an acclaimed teacher of the Alphorn and her vision of education for the art form.

In this episode, we interviewed Mr. Thomas Tilton during the Leavenworth Alphorn Gathering in Leavenworth Washington. We talked about the performances of the event and future plans for upcoming alphorn gatherings.