JEFFREY AGRELL
JEFFREY AGRELL is a “hornist for all seasons,” with his broad range of
musical interests and abilities. He has played and taught the full gamut of horn
literature including the repertoire for orchestra, opera, musicals, ballet,
operetta, and chamber music while stretching personal artistic boundaries beyond
the orchestra as a composer, writer, clinician, and solo performer.
He joined the University of Iowa School of Music faculty as horn professor in
2000 after a 25 year career as symphony musician and has been very active as a
guest artist and clinician, performing and giving workshops and presentations at
state, regional, national, and international workshops, festivals, and
conferences. He is currently serving a second term as a member of the Advisory
Council of the International Horn Society, and has been a member of the faculty
of the Asian Youth Orchestra (Hong Kong). His CD recordings include
“Repercussions” (largely improvised pieces for horn and piano with pianist Evan
Mazunik), “Side Show Tim” [Dane Records] with the improvising trio Cerberus
(horn, tuba, trumpet), and “Mosaic” [MSR Classics] with Duende (horn, cello,
piano), which has garnered rave reviews recently for its improvisations on
medieval and Renaissance music.
Besides performing, Jeffrey Agrell has always been very interested in the
creative process as evidenced in his long-time activities as a writer and a
composer. He was on the editorial staffs of The Horn Call and the
Brass Bulletin for many years and has over ninety published articles to his
credit. For the Horn Call (journal of the International Horn Society), he
won the Harold Meek award for the best feature article of 2003. Currently he is
the series editor for two regular columns, “Technique Tips” and “The Creative
Hornist.” As a composer, he has written many commissions for professional
chamber music ensembles. His Rhythm Suite for Clarinet and Marimba won
First Prize in the 2000 composition contest of the International Clarinet
Association. Many of Jeffrey Agrell's works have appeared on CD and have been
broadcast on radio and television nationally and internationally. Many of his
works have been published and performed at contests and festivals worldwide. He
is a member of the ASCAP and SUISA, respectively the American and Swiss
composers’ rights societies.
Besides teaching standard horn repertoire, Jeffrey Agrell has been very
interested in the expansion of technique and musicality offered by (non-jazz)
improvisation, and he teaches a unique semester course in improvisation designed
for classical musicians. He is in demand for workshops nationally and
internationally in improvisation for classical musicians, often with pianist
Evan Mazunik. Jeffrey Agrell has studied Soundpainting (a gestural language for
real-time composition with groups) with its originator, New York composer and
conductor Walter Thompson. With NY hornist John Clarke, Agrell also co-hosts an
annual Improvisation for Horn Players workshop at SUNY-Purchase. His new
book, “Improvisation Games for Classical Musicians” was published in December
2007 by GIA Publications.
For information more information on Jeffrey Agrell and UI Horn Studio, see
www.uiowa.edu/~somhorn. This site
also contains the most comprehensive set of (annotated) links on everything
related to horn on the web, plus a lot more (see Resources>Links).
Upcoming appearances include a 3 week course combining improvised music, dance,
and theater at the University of Iowa (May 16-June 8), UI Band Camp (June 8-14),
KBHC (June 14-29), the IHS Symposium in Denver (July 22-26), hosting a
Soundpainting Think Tank and conductor training session at The University of
Iowa (July 28-Aug 8), and instructor at Horn Week the Shell Lake (Wisconsin)
Arts Camp (Aug. 10-15).
Jeff is married to Shari Rhoads, a pianist, opera coach and conductor who also
teaches at UI. They have a daughter, Lili, who is a star athlete and also
plays the horn. Jeff is also an accomplished jazz guitarist and dabbles with
the mandolin, autoharp and banjo. He also collects rare and ethnic percussion
instruments and enjoys doing cryptograms, crossword puzzles, playing Euchre and
following the Iowa Hawkeye football team, even when they are losing. He studied
drama and performed Shakespeare in college and is a committed movie buff.
Despite all of this, he now claims his favorite musical activity is playing in
the Moose Drool Quartet with Doug Hill, Lin Foulk, and Jesse McCormick at KBHC
every summer. It will be our pleasure to welcome Jeff back for Weeks 2 and 3 in
2008!