Second Post

My civic engagement project was not hard to think of. Anthony and I chose to create a horn choir. This project was the result of our experiences at the University of Northern Iowa, where we participated in the community horn choir. The horn choir up there has been in existence since the 80's and it was always pretty fun. I liked playing next to community members. It really felt like I was connecting with members of the local music community.

A horn choir consists of more than 4 horn players. A community horn choir is a special ensemble in itself. Many of the horn choirs in the US are based in colleges. This leaves out any people who aren't students. We aim to approach this project with the same community aspect as the University of Northern Iowa. This is a more inclusive way to do it, and that is more in line with our music philosophy.

Our proposal is to hold a concert on campus, involving members of the community, including those who may not participate in many ensembles. We do not aim to have a perfect concert, we just want everyone to enjoy making music. I feel this is connected to civic engagement because we are bringing new people into our musical experiences, and allowing those people to play their instruments. Hopefully, this will enable them to have a greater connection to music. Also, since the concert is public, the community at large can still appreciate the concert. Some people may be interested in the horn choir, but not other popular groups in the area. Those are the people we're most interested in reaching. I really hope that this ensemble continues to occur in this area after we graduate. I'm around for another semester, so I'll try to do it then at the very least.

Here is an example of what a horn choir is:
(You may want to turn down your volume a little)

I'm thinking about adding that piece to the concert. I really like it! Music has been one of the only costs of this project, and we have decided to purchase it ourselves, rather than raising the funds. The sheet music is pretty cheap. It only costs around twelve dollars and we predict that we're going to be programming only about 3 or 4 pieces.

We tried to pick out music that wasn't too difficult, especially since we're not going to be able to have many rehearsals. We are having a little trouble finding a location, but if we can't find anything soon, we're going to use the school's resources.

I really like that this class assigns this project. I like that, unlike colloqium, we follow a project from beginning to end. It feels a lot less like labor, and more like a collaboration.

We're anticipating that the concert is going to be on April 18th. I'm really hoping some of the professional players in the area can join us.