The Naturhornakademie Bad Dürkheim (International Horn Academy in Bad Dürkheim) is celebrating its fifteenth year with a number of events (concerts and seminars) this summer. Please see http://www.naturhorn.com/ for more information.
Call for Proposals: Making the Jazz Gumbo
An international conference on repertoires that Influenced and were influenced by early jazz and celebrating the 100th Anniversary of the death of James Reese Europe, presented by the Historic Brass Society with support from the City University Of New York Graduate Center
May 8, 2019
CUNY Graduate Center, New York City
As with a great gumbo, the creation of musical genres involve the mix of many elements. Some of those elements have been downplayed in jazz history. This conference aims to address those shortcomings and will focus on musical styles that helped create and were influenced by jazz. Special focus will be placed on James Reese Europe and the Harlem Hell Fighters who created a link between ragtime and early jazz as well as what Jelly Roll Morton intriguingly called “That Spanish tinge.” Exploration of cross-influences from Latin American music will be explored, most notably, early Cuban repertoire. Brazilian choro, maxixe and other styles as well as repertoire from Puerto Rico, and Mexico will be included. Music and history of composers such as Louis Moreau Gottschalk and Ernesto Nazareth will also be represented.
The conference will end with a period-instrument concert of the music of James Reese Europe and the Harlem Hell Fighters as well as late 19th and early 20th century music of Cuba, Puerto Rico, Mexico, Brazil and works by Gottschalk and Nazareth and others.
Proposals for papers on those and related topics will be considered for inclusion in the conference.
Send proposals by January 1, 2019 to
The Historic Brass Society is pleased to announce that the 2018 Christopher Monk Award has been presented to Richard Seraphinoff in recognition of his outstanding and sustained contributions to the understanding of the natural horn, its repertoire, historic performance practice, and manufacture.
Robert Barclay, Richard Seraphinoff & Michael Münkwitz will again be giving their annual week-long trumpet-making course in Linton, UK beginning on June 11. Click for more information: Long Trumpet Making with Robert Barclay and guest appearances from Richard Seraphinoff & Michael Münkwitz | Monday 11th - Friday 15th June | £880; Cornetto Making with Sam Goble and Andrew Hallock 2nd - 6th July.
Jeremy Montagu has published an e-book, The Conch Horn, and posted a free pdf version of it on his website www.jeremymontagu.co.uk. This study is a well-illustrated survey of shell trumpets across the world, from palaeolithic to the present day. It examines their history, species and use in ritual and in day-to-day activities for signaling and other purposes. The book is comprised of 6 chapters and an extensive bibliography. Geographic areas in which conch horns are examined include; Europe, the Mediterranean, Africa, India, Asia, South-East Asia, Islands of the Pacific and the Americas. It is surely the most extensive study of shell trumpets ever conducted.
Tuesday 20 November – Thursday 22 November 2018 at the by Bern University of the Arts (HKB) in Biel/Bienne, Switzerland 
The Associação Nacional de Instrumentos Musicais (Portuguese National Association for Musical Instruments) has announced their 7th International Congress, to be held July 4-7, 2018 in Caldas da Rainha. The theme this year is "Beyond the Broad Coast Horizon: Diversity and Transversality in Cultural Heritage." The conference is being organized in conjuncton with The Historic Brass Society this year, and a "Brass Focus" section will be held under the direction of Arnold Myers (University of Edinburg). Those interested in attending should click here for more information. Click here if you are interested in submitting a proposal to present at the conference. The proposal deadline is March 15.
The 7th Indiana Sackbut Workshop, held May 22-27, 2018 in Morgantown, will focus on the music of Great Britain, which developed along a trajectory unique from that of music on the continent. We will spend time with compositions from the second half of the 15th century that were influential on the continent, then works from the musically vibrant reigns of King Henry VIII and Queen Elizabeth I. With the goal of putting ourselves in the shoes of a town wait, hours of small-ensemble playing will be accompanied by sessions on solmization and mode, improvisation, and developing an overall understanding for the musical language, which includes reading from original manuscripts and printed sources. Without anyone being left feeling too out of their element, we want all participants to challenge themselves at an appropriate level, so modern editions of all the music will also be provided.
The Historic Brass Society is accepting proposals for period brass instrument performances and early brass lectures. All early brass topics from Antiquity through to the 20th century will be considered. Please submit a one-page proposal for either a performance or lecture. Lectures will be 20 minutes with an additional 10 minute question and discussion period added. Performances typically are 20 minutes to 45 minutes depending upon size and nature of the ensemble. Keyboard accompanists will be available if needed.
Submission Deadlines: November 1, 2016 For Performance Proposals; December 1, 2016 For Paper Proposals
Please send proposals to:
Symposium Program Committee: Stewart Carter, Trevor Herbert, Jeff Nussbaum, Keith Polk, Bradley Strauchen.
3/2 - The 6th Indiana Sackbut Workshop will pay a visit to Renaissance Naples, a melting pot of Hispano-Italian culture and ideas. We will be touching upon late 15th-century alta-capella repertoire, mid-16th-century improvisation, and the development of extensive chromaticism in the later 16th and early 17th centuries. As always, we will work towards adopting the frame of mind of a Renaissance musician: in addition to lots of playing in small ensembles, there will be sessions on solmization, theory and composition, and musical language, which includes reading from original manuscript and print sources. Of course, we want everyone to challenge themselves on an appropriate level, so modern editions of all the music will also be provided.
As was the case last year, an optional extra day of just sackbuts and dulcians from Tuesday, May 23 at 12 PM to Wednesday, May 24 at 5 PM will allow us to explore the more chromatic music from around 1600. The official workshop for sackbuts and early double reeds runs from Wednesday, May 24 at 5 PM to Sunday, May 28 at 12 PM at Waycross Conference Center in Morgantown, IN.
Here is a link to all pertinent information concerning registration and fees: http://earlymusicinmotion.org/event-registration/?ee=35
If you have any specific questions about the workshop, please feel free to contact Adam Bregman (
The abstracts for the presentations and the conference schedule (newly updated 7/5) are now available.
There will be a pizza party on Friday evening at St. Luke's in the Field Church after the concert. The cost will be $10. Please pay via paypal.com by send the funds to
Also, a bag lunch is available for Friday July 14th at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. The cost will be aproximately $10. Please email
Current HBS membership is required. Please make sure you are paid up with membership.
2/13 - The HBS will present the 3rd International Historic Brass Symposium in New York City on July 13-16, 2017. Many of the community's leading scholars, performers, ensembles and instrument makers will be attending. Online registration and HBS membership is required. The deadline to secure NYU housing will be June 7th.
Flyer including list of participants: click here.
The abstracts for the presentations and the conference schedule (newly updated 7/5) are now available.The HBS has commissioned fanfares for performance at our conferences over the years. For the first time we're making the scores available in
