Baylor > Brass > Faculty > Jeffrey Powers

Jeffrey Powers

Associate Professor of Horn
School of Music
One Bear Place #97408
Baylor University
Waco TX 76798
E-Mail: Jeffrey_Powers@baylor.edu
Phone: (254) 710-6527
Fax: (254) 710-3574

JEFFREY POWERS, Associate Professor of Horn, Baylor University School of Music, is a native of San Antonio, Texas, where he attended John Marshall High School. He holds a Bachelor of Arts degree with "Honors in Music" from Austin College in Sherman, Texas (where he was elected to Alpha Chi National Honor Scholarship Society), and a Master of Music in Horn from the Cleveland Institute of Music. His major instructors were James London of the Dallas Symphony Orchestra, Albert Schmitter and Myron Bloom of the Cleveland Orchestra, and Roy Waas of the Buffalo Philharmonic. Mr. Powers was elected to Pi Kappa Lambda-the national music honor society-by his fellow faculty in 2003.

Mr. Powers brings extensive experience in performing and teaching to his duties at Baylor University. He played fulltime professionally and internationally in symphony orchestras for twenty-three years. Having begun his career as second horn in the Hong Kong Philharmonic, Mr. Powers then served as second horn in the New Jersey Symphony, fourth horn in the Philharmonic of Caracas, Venezuela, and fourth horn and Wagner tuba in the Cleveland Orchestra under Lorin Maazel and Christoph von Dohnanyi.

Then followed sixteen years as principal horn with the Royal Philharmonic of Flanders, Antwerp, Belgium (a fulltime, full-size symphony orchestra serving the Flemish community). During his tenure in Belgium, he also performed as guest principal horn with most of the major orchestras of the Benelux (Belgium, Holland, and Luxembourg) region, including the Philharmonic Orchestra of Luxembourg, the Flemish Radio Orchestra, the Brabants Symphony Orchestra, and the Royal Chamber Orchestra of Wallonia.

Presently Mr. Powers is principal horn with the Waco Symphony Orchestra and The Abilene Philharmonic Orchestra, and a member of the Baylor Woodwind Quintet and the Baylor Brass. Mr. Powers also performs regularly with the Dallas Symphony Orchestra, the Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra, and the East Texas Symphony Orchestra.

Before coming to Baylor, Mr. Powers taught students of all ages, from beginners to professionals, and he served on the faculties of the Lemmens Institute in Leuven, Belgium, the Cleveland Institute of Music Preparatory Department, the Summer Music Experience in Hudson, Ohio, and the Hong Kong Government Music Administrators Office.

Recently graduated performance majors from the Baylor University School of Music Horn Studio have received scholarships and assistantships for graduate study to The Juilliard School, the University of Maryland and the University of Houston, and many of the music education majors are teaching in significant music programs in middle and high schools throughout Texas. His former students are playing in professional ensembles such as The National Orchestra of Belgium and The U.S. Army Field Band.

Mr. Powers is also on the faculty of the MasterWorks Festival, sponsored by the Christian Performing Artists Fellowship, held each summer at Winona Lake in Indiana. Well known for his clinics and master classes, Mr. Powers has given clinics on topics such as the low register of the horn, the essentials of training young horn players, the All State experience, and playing and using the assistant horn, and he has taught master classes to students of all levels (see "Jeffrey Powers – Clinics" below). This past fall Mr. Powers toured with Dr. de Vries to China where they played in recital and taught the students at Hong Kong Baptist University, Taipei National University of the Arts and the Shanghai Conservatory. Mr. Powers is also in demand as an adjudicator being asked to regularly judge the Texas State Music Educators (TMEA) All State 5A Horn Placement auditions and the University Interscholastic League (UIL) Texas State Solo and Ensemble Competition (TSSEC).

Mr. Powers has recorded extensively in ensemble and has 3 solo CD's released to date (see "Jeffrey Powers – Recordings" below). Let All That Hath Breath Praise the Lord: Music of Praise for Horn is the title of Mr. Power's first solo CD. This recording includes works by Basler, Gryc, Hindemith, Krol, Marc, and the Sonata in One Movement by Hugh Chandler written for Mr. Powers.

Together with Dr. de Vries, Mr. Powers has released 2 CD's on the MSR Classics label. His second solo CD: Into the 21st Century: Music for Horn and Piano by Baldwin, Bentzon, Pilss and Vignery includes the Appalachian Suite written for Mr. Powers by Daniel Baldwin. In a Lyrical Way: Music for Horn and Piano by Flemish Masters was released in the Fall of 2008. They are presently in the process of recording a new CD of major sonatas for horn and piano including those written by Beethoven, Rheinberger and Hindemith.

In addition to Mr. Baldwin's and Mr. Chandler's pieces, Mr. Powers has premiered numerous other works including Thou Holiest of Rivers written specifically for him by David Uber (see "Jeffrey Powers – Premieres" below). His own transcription of "5 Psalms" by Dvorak for horn and piano has been published by Imagine Music Publishers.

Mr. Powers is married to Julie, a native of Northern Ireland, and they have four children-Aaron, Hannah, Joshua, and Liesbeth.

Jeffrey Powers – Clinics
In addition to standard masterclasses, Mr. Powers has prepared, presented and is available to give clinics on the following subjects with these titles:
- "Daily Warm-up and Workout for Horn"
- "The Essentials of Tone Production"
- "Guidelines for Preparing an Excerpt"
- "The Essential Horn Quartet" – the elements necessary to training a quality horn section.
- "Focus and Concentration in Performance"
- "The All State Experience – Perspective and Preparation"
- "Preparing the All State Etudes"
- "Application of Biblical Principles to Life in the Workplace"
- "On Practice"
- "Bringing Up ‘Johnny Corno' – Avoiding the Pitfalls When Training Up Your Horn Section"
- "Lest We Forget: The Low Range of the Horn"
-" The Horn, Sacred Music and Ministry"

Jeffrey Powers – Recordings

Solo

"Let All That Hath Breath Praise the Lord – Music of Praise for Horn". The CD includes the first recordings of the "Sonata in One Movement for Horn and Piano" written for Jeffrey Powers by Hugh Chandler, "Reflections on a Southern Hymn for Horn Alone" by Stephen Gryc, and of the complete set of Paul Basler's "Songs of Faith for Choir, Horn and Piano, as well as pieces by: Edmond Marc, Bernhard Krol and Paul Hindemith.

"Into the 21st Century: Music for Horn and Piano by Baldwin, Bentzon, Pilss and Vignery". Jeffrey Powers, Horn and Vincent DeVries, Piano. The CD includes the first recording of the "Appalachian Suite" by Daniel Baldwin written for Jeffrey Powers, and sonatas by Niels Viggo Bentzon, Karl Pilss and Jane Vignery. Available from MSR Classics.

"In a Lyrical Way: Music for Horn by Flemish Masters". Jeffrey Powers, Horn and Vincent DeVries, Piano. Works by Meulemans, Mortelmans, Ryelandt, Poot, Westerlinck, and Van Eechaute with the first recording of the "5 Preludes" by Paul Gilson. Available from MSR Classics.

In preparation – Sonatas by Beethoven, Rheinberger, Hindemith, and a newly commissioned work by Joanna Murphy.

Chamber Music

"The Baylor Woodwind Connection: Contemporary Quintets by American Composers" with the Baylor Faculty Woodwind Quintet. Works by Richard Willis – "Colloquy" and "Six Miniatures"; Scott McAllister - "Of Growing Wind and Tide"; Charles Rochester Young - "Three Summer Evenings" and Paul Richards - "Ars antiqua"

Principal Horn with the Royal Philharmonic of Flanders:

Music of Peter Benoit – Frederic Devreese, cond., Naxos
Complete Symphonic Works of Luc Brewaeys – Arturo Tomayo, cond., Cypress, Snepvangers en Cecilia Prize 1996
Berlioz – La Damnation De Faust (complete) – Gunther Neuhold, cond., Bayer Records
Music of August De Boeck – Frederic Devreese, cond., Naxos
Franck –Symphony in d minor and Prelude, Choral et Fugue – Gunther Neuhold, cond., Naxos
Wim Henderickx - Raga I, II, III - Grant Llewwllyn, cond., Megadisc Classics
Music of Jef Maes – Gerard Oskamp, cond., Naxos
Joseph Ryelandt – Agnus Dei – Grant Llewellyn, cond., Marco Polo
Sibelius – Symphony No. 2 and Pelleas et Melisande – Gerard Oskamp, cond., Verdi Records
Night of the Proms - Gunther Neuhold, cond., Tauro Records

Principal Horn with the Chamber Orchestra Walter Proost:

Mozart – Symphonies No.1, 4, 10 and Odense – Walter proost, cond., Trepsichore
Mozart – Arias, Louis Hagen-William, Bass-Baritone, Walter Proost, cond., Quantum
Barber – Violin Concerto and Bernstein – Serenade, Jaap van Sweeden, Violin – Walter Proost, cond., Sony Classical

Fourth Horn with The Cleveland Orchestra:

Beethoven – Symphony No. 3 – Christoph von Dohnanyi, cond., Telarc
Beethoven – Symphony No. 8 and Schubert Symphony No. 8 – Christoph von Dohnanyi, cond., Telarc
Berlioz – Symphonie Fantastique – Lorin Maazel, cond., Telarc
Berlioz – Symphonie Fantastique – Lorin Maazel, cond., CBS
Dvorak – Symphony No. 8 and Scherzo capriccioso – Christoph von Dohnanyi, cond., London
Dvorak – Symphony No. 9 – Christoph von Dohnanyi, cond., Decca
Prokofiev – Alexander Nevsky – Riccaedo Chailly, cond., London
Prokofiev – Romeo & Juliet – Suites 1 & 2 – Yoel Levi, cond., Telarc
Prokofiev – Cinderella (complete) – Vladimir Ashkenazy, cond., London
Shostakovich – Symphony No. 5 – Lorin Maazel, cond., Telarc
Sibelius – Symphony No. 2 and Finlandia – Yoel Levi, cond., Telarc
Strauss – Ein Heldenleben – Vladimir Ashkenazy, cond., Decca
Tchaikovsky – Francesca da Rimini, and Romeo and Juliet – Riccardo Chailly, cond. Decc
Tchaikovsky – Romeo and Juliet, and Nutcracker Suite – Lorin Maazel, cond., Telarc
Tchaikovsky – Symphony No. 4 – Lorin Maazel, cond., CBS
Tchaikovsky – Symphony No. 5 – Lorin Maazel, cond. CBS
Tchaikovsky – Symphony No. 6 – Lorin Maazel, cond., CBS

Second Horn with The Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra:

Chinese Encores for Orchestra – Hans Gunther-Mommer, cond.

Jeffrey Powers - Premieres

Hugh Chandler – Sonata in One Movement for Horn and Piano - written for Mr. Powers
Suite for Four Horns
David Uber – "Thou Holiest of Rivers" for Horn and Piano - written for Mr. Powers
Daniel Baldwin – "Appalachian Suite" for Horn and Piano Commissioned by Mr. Powers
- "Longhorn Trilogy" for Violin, Horn Contrabassoon and Marimba Jeffrey Collazo – "Sonido" for Horn and Piano
Andy Rivera – Sonata for Horn and Piano
Dvorak/ transcribed by Jeffrey Powers – Five Psalms for Horn and Piano
Joanna Murphy – Newly Commissioned work for Horn and Piano – in preparation, to be premiered Spring 2010. .