Musicians Could Set New Record At UNT Horn Symposium
DENTON (CBSDFW.COM - Musicians from around the world are gathering in Denton this weekend to try to set a new world record. They'll be performing in the world's largest French horn ensemble.
"It's going to sound sort of like heaven to people who are non-horn players. The more horns you have, the better it sounds," said Dr. Bill Scharnberg, UNT Regent Professor of Music. "So when you get a thousand horn players, it's going to sound perfect to the outside listener."
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Hundreds of French horn players are already on the University of North Texas campus for the "International Horn Symposium". It's a chance for them to learn from some of the best players in the world, including some that have a unique approach to the instrument that's normally found in classical music.
"Probably the furthest person to travel is Arkady Shilkloper from Russia, who is a well-known jazz horn player," Dr. Scharnberg said. "There are about a half-dozen horn players in the world that call themselves jazz horn players. Arkady's probably the best known in the horn world. He's very entertaining. He can play an hour by himself with just horn and foot pedals. He can play two horns at once, Alp horn and horn, it's just amazing."
He's performing with the school's world-famous One O'clock Lab Band on Friday, May 18.
On Saturday at 5:30pm, the players at the symposium will gather in the middle of campus for an attempt to set the new world record. Dr. Scharnberg hopes to attract some local musicians as well. "I hope to have maybe 500 to 1,000 Texas horn players here in addition to the 400 or 500 guests from around the world," he said, "so we hope to get into the Guinness Book of World Records." The current official record for the largest French horn ensemble is 85.
