JEFFREY POWERS

• Jeffrey Powers: Into the 21st Century

"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.


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.


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.
  JANE VIGNERY (1913-1974)
Sonata for Horn and Piano, Op.7

DANIEL BALDWIN (b.1978)
Appalachian Suite for Horn & Piano (2006)
[WORLD PREMIERE RECORDING]

NIELS VIGGO BENTZON (1919-2000)
Sonata for Horn and Piano, Op. 47

KARL PILSS (1902-1979)
Three Pieces in the Form of a Sonata for Horn and Piano
 



MSR Classics