Jeffrey Agrell
Associate Professor
Horn
Phone: (319) 335-1648
Office: 3754 UCC
jeffrey-agrell@uiowa.edu

Horn Studio website

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Jeffrey Agrell

Jeffrey Agrell is a "hornist for all seasons" with his broad range of musical interests and abilities. As a performer/educator he has played and taught the full gamut of horn literature, including the repertoire for symphony orchestra, opera, musicals, ballet, operetta, solo and chamber music, while stretching personal artistic boundaries beyond the orchestra as a composer, writer, clinician, recording artist, 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 (horn and piano), Side Show Tim [Dane Records] with Cerberus (horn, tuba, trumpet), and Mosaic [MSR Classics] with Duende (horn, cello, piano), which has garnered rave reviews recently for its new interpretations of 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 (nonjazz) improvisation, and he teaches a unique semester course in improvisation designed for classical musicians.

His new book Improvisation Games for Classical Musicians has a publishing date of December 2007 by GIA Publications.

The UI Horn Studio has a full and lively palette of musical activities and opportunities, including lessons, seminar, horn choir, large and small ensemble playing, and thorough study of standard solo, orchestral, and chamber music repertoire. The Horn Studio regularly enjoys additional enrichment offered by guest artists.

Interested high school students may participate in the annual UI High School Horn Day (the next one: January 12, 2008) for a (free) day of clinics, masterclasses, presentations, horn solo competition, and horn ensemble playing.

For information on the UI Horn Studio, visit 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).

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Last updated 19-aug-09