
INTO
THE 21ST CENTURY
MUSIC
FOR HORN AND PIANO by
BALDWIN, BENTZON, PILSS & VIGNERY
JEFFREY POWERS
HORN
VINCENT
DEVRIES
PIANO
$14.95 ~ MS1212
INCLUDES
WORLD PREMIERE RECORDING
For
the World Magazine review, Click HERE
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"This
CD contains four varied works performed with virtuosic flair, emotion and
beauty. Jeffrey Powers is an excellent horn player and musician who plays with
apparent ease and abundant expressive skill. He and pianist Vincent DeVries play
together beautifully - their ensemble precision is excellent...you
will enjoy this CD."
The
Horn Call ~ February 2008
"This
is a wonderful, life-affirming disc that is expressly not hornist-only
territory. Jeffrey Powers is an expressive player who brings a sense of nobility
to the music on this disc. His repertoire choices are fine ones too. All credit,
too, to MSR Classics for getting this music to the public view. In short, an
excellently presented and performed disc preserved in stunning recorded sound."
Fanfare ~ November / December 2007
"Recorded
sound is excellent, as is pianist Vincent De Vries...Jeffrey Powers sounds good
in energetic passages..."
American
Record Guide ~ November / December 2007
This
recording is a collection of beautiful, inspired music that shows the horn at
its very best, as an instrument that is heroic, lyrical and sonorous. The music
represents several of the different musical trends that were present in
compositions written after World War II and leading into the beginning of the 21st
century. The music of Karl Pilss, which invokes the sound and style of Richard
Strauss, is indicative of the conservative neo-romantic tradition of post war
Europe. Vignery’s Sonata is representative of the more progressive Belgian
national school of composers active in Flanders at the time. Bentzon was a very
eclectic, stylistically advanced composer who bridged the gap between the
romantics and the avant-garde. The music of the young American Daniel Baldwin is
heavily influenced by the minimalist tendencies of late 20th century
music. The music of these four composers demonstrates some of the wonderful
variety of writing for the horn during this period, yet it also recognizes the
lyrical, sonorous quality of the horn.
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Jeffrey
Powers, Associate
Professor of Horn, Baylor University School of Music, is a native of San
Antonio, Texas. He holds a Bachelor of Arts degree with Honors in Music from
Austin College in Sherman, Texas, and a Master of Music in Horn from The
Cleveland Institute of Music. His major instructors were James London of the
Dallas Symphony Orchestra, Albert Schmitter and Myron Bloom of The Cleveland
Orchestra, and Roy Waas of the Buffalo Philharmonic.
Mr.
Powers brings extensive experience in performing and teaching to his duties at
Baylor University. He played full time professionally and internationally in
symphony orchestras for 23 years. Having begun his career as second horn in The
Hong Kong Philharmonic, Mr. Powers then served as second horn in the New Jersey
Symphony, fourth horn in the Philharmonic of Caracas, Venezuela, and fourth horn
and Wagner tuba in The Cleveland Orchestra under Lorin Maazel and Christoph von
Dohnányi.
Then
followed 16 years as Principal horn with the Royal Philharmonic of Flanders,
Antwerp, Belgium. During his tenure in Belgium he also performed as guest
principal horn with most of the major orchestras of the Benelux (Belgium,
Holland, and Luxembourg) region, including the Philharmonic Orchestra of
Luxembourg, the Flemish Radio Orchestra, The Brabants Symphony Orchestra, and
the Royal Chamber Orchestra of Wallonia. Presently Mr. Powers is Principal Horn
with the Waco Symphony Orchestra and a member of the Baylor Woodwind Quintet and
the Baylor Brass. Mr. Powers also performs periodically with the Dallas Symphony
Orchestra, East Texas Symphony Orchestra, Plano Symphony Orchestra and Texas
Chamber Orchestra.
Before
coming to Baylor, Mr. Powers taught students of all ages, from beginners to
professionals, and he served on the faculties of the Lemmens Institute in Leuven,
Belgium, Cleveland Institute of Music Preparatory Department, Summer Music
Experience in Hudson, Ohio and Hong Kong Government Music Administrators Office.
His students are successful professional orchestra players. Mr. Powers is also
on the faculty of the MasterWorks Festival, sponsored by the Christian
Performing Artists Fellowship, held each summer at Winona Lake in Indiana.
Well
known for his clinics and masterclasses, Mr. Powers has given clinics on topics
such as the low register of the horn, the essentials of training young horn
players, the All State experience, playing and using the assistant horn and has
taught masterclasses to students of all levels. Mr. Powers’ first solo CD,
"Let All That Hath Breath Praise the Lord – Music of Praise for
Horn" features works by Basler, Chandler, Gryc, Hindemith, Krol and Marc.
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Vincent
de Vries is Assistant Professor of Piano and Director of Collaborative Piano at
Baylor University. He is an active performer, presenting recitals as
soloist, duo pianist, accompanist, and organist. Prior to his appointment
at Baylor University he was serving as an Assistant Instructor at The University
of Texas at Austin-teaching instrumental accompanying to undergraduate and
graduate students.
Dr.
de Vries received his Doctor of Musical Arts degree from The University of Texas
at Austin. He also holds a Performer's Diploma from The Royal Conservatory
in The Hague, The Netherlands and a Master's degree from Bowling Green State
University.
His principal teachers have included Nancy Garrett, Edward Auer, Jerome Rose,
and Theo Bruins.
He
is the recipient of many scholarships and has won awards in several
competitions, among them first prize in the National Young Artist Competition in
The Netherlands and first prize in the Sydney Wright Accompanying Competition at
The University of Texas at Austin. In addition to his piano performances,
Dr. de Vries is a highly regarded concert organist, with over three hundred solo
recitals and seven CD releases to his credit. In 2003 he received the
silver medal from the "Arts, Sciences, et Lettres" in Paris for his
contributions to the French organ literature. Dr. de Vries can also be
heard in recital with duo pianist Dr. Bradley Bolen. Their recording featuring
the works of Brahms, Poulenc, Rachmaninoff, and Milhaud will be released on the
MSR Classics label in 2007.