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Four Horns Front And Center

When the four horns of the Columbus Indiana Philharmonic take the stage for Robert Schumann's Konzertstück, at least one of the group is a player who hadn't expected to be there, at least not with a French horn.

Horn player Zach Glavan never planned on being a French horn player. "I was just eleven and I wanted to play the trumpet or the trombone, but my middle school music teacher said I had the lips for the French horn."

Glavan stuck with the horn through middle school and high school and came to IU to study with Jeff Nelsen. "Talking about Professor Nelsen in a few words is very hard. But one thing that I can say is that he helps students to be able to perform in any situationfrom a living room to a huge concert hallas if they were playing by themselves in a practice room."

This training will come in handy as Glavan and three other horn players from the Columbus Indiana Philharmonic will be moved from their usual spot in behind the violas and cellos to the front of the stage for Robert Schumann's Konzertstück for Four Horns.

Philharmonic conductor David Bowden describes the three movement work as" sparkling, soaring, rollicking and demanding." Glavan says that the demands come from the piece's period. "In 1848 horn players had set roles and there were players who simply specialized in the high register that the piece asks for. Today's horn players are more generalists. The arrangement that we're playing is plenty challenging, but it gives each of the four horn players time in the spotlight."

Saturday's program opens with Bach's Orchestral Suite No. 3, continues with the Konzertstück and concludes with Beethoven's Symphony No. 7.

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