On March 14, guest artist Thomas Jöstlein visited the Cowles Music Center for Whitworth University’s Horn-A-Palooza, a day dedicated to celebrating the French horn. Local music shops also made an appearance at the event, while the Spokane Horn Club highlighted the instrument’s connection to the greater Spokane community.
Jöstlein is an accomplished French horn artist who has performed on major world tours and earned recognition in his field. He is based in St. Louis, Mo., where he serves as Associate Principal horn for the St. Louis Symphony.
“I play for the love of the art form,” said Jöstlein, “And for the love of the students, so I’ve been blessed with where I’ve gotten to be.”
Though he finds joy in performing, Jöstlein said his deeper passion lies in teaching.
“In this day and age with all the stuff going on the world, it’s nice to have something that you’re thinking about that improves people, and it’s more poetry, art, thinking across generations, thinking of bringing beauty into the world and teaching people to do themselves, it’s much more, I think, for me, more meaningful than just performing,” said Jöstlein, “It’s a different angle, but I love bringing about that change.”
The event featured a masterclass in Myhre Recital Hall, where students performed pieces and received one-on-one lessons from Jöstlein.
“He’s an orchestral player, which is super cool, because there are seven of us horns in the orchestra this year,” said Kelsey Swenland, a first-year education and French horn performance major who attended Jöstlein’s masterclass. “So, it’s very cool that we can all learn from someone who played lead in one of the top orchestras in the world for, like, 20 years,” she added.
Swenland hopes to teach the French horn while playing in a musical theater orchestra. To reach her goals, she aims to learn from experts and establish a consistent warm-up routine.
“I always just do something different,” said Sweland, “So, whenever there’s a guest, I like to ask, ‘What is your warm-up routine? How do you start each day? Is it different based on concert days or rehearsal days? How do you balance that?’”
Another student, Wind Ensemble section leader Isaac Crawford-Heim, is a senior health science major with a music minor, preparing for his senior recital. He sought Jöstlein’s guidance on adding depth and a regal quality to his solo piece by Kurt Atterberg.
“I chose specifically the second movement for my solo that I was going to play for him, just because I find that the horn usually sounds better in those melodic kinds of pieces,” said Crawford-Heim. “And I want to really play to my strengths, which is good tone, quality and slow, more emotional kind of playing.”
With Jöstlein leading the way, Horn-A-Palooza hit all the right notes, sharing the joy of the French horn across generations.
