Virtuoso Horn Duo
Photo: Phillipe Hurlin
"Hailed as the Virtuoso Horn Duo, Kristina Mascher and Kerry Turner wowed the audience with their wonderful tonal qualities and highly accomplished, polished playing" - Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts Journal, Singapore
"Kristina Mascher and Kerry Turner are indeed virtuosos of the first rank." - Classical Music Guide, May 2007
The Virtuoso Horn Duo, Kerry Turner and Kristina Mascher, began performing in 2002. These two highly accomplished horn players began studying, perfecting and performing the existing repertoire for two horns, putting a particular emphasis on the concertos with orchestra, many of which were written by very well known composers, such as Haydn, Vivaldi and Telemann.
After performing at the Britain in Luxembourg Exhibition in 2002 , the Deputy Head of Mission wrote, “Exhibitors were unanimous in praising the animation you helped to provide. The only complaint was that they would have liked even more.”
Shortly thereafter, Kristina and Kerry presented a recital and master class at the University of Prague and at further venues in Luxembourg. They traveled extensively, giving concerts to enthusiastic audiences in Valencia, Spain at the International Horn Society’s Annual Workshop, the 2nd Australian Brass Festival in Melbourne, Australia, at the Academy of Music in Singapore, and at the Festival of Nations in Rome. The VHD has also performed in the Southwestern United States (including AIR Horns in Arizona) and Chemnitz, Germany. They have presented concerts and master classes at Virginia Commonwealth University, for the USAF Heritage of America Band, have been featured guest artists at the 2nd Hungarian Horn Festival in Mor as well as at the University of Cape Town in South Africa. They have also appeared as soloists with the Richmond Symphony Orchestra and various orchestras around Poland. In 2006 Mr. Turner and Ms. Mascher recorded a CD of concertos for 2 horns and chamber orchestra with the Sinfonietta Cracovia for the MSR Classics label http://www.kerryturner.com/node/769. They recently completed a highly successful tour of the United States as the Virtuoso Horn Duo and Friends with tubist Kyle Turner and pianist Lauretta Bloomer. Most recently, the VHD were artists in residence at the Beijing Conservatory as part of the 2nd China Horn Festival.
The Virtuoso Horn Duo offers a program of highly melodic, sometimes traditional and often technically dazzling horn playing, combined with world class artistry and execution.
For reviews of the Virtuoso Horn Duo CD, please go to http://www.kerryturner.com/node/813.
Kerry Turner is certainly no new-comer to the international touring circuit. As a member of the world-renowned American Horn Quartet, Bronze Medalist at the Prague Spring International Music Competition, and member of the Luxembourg Philharmonic Orchestra, he has performed as soloist, chamber and orchestral musician all over the world. He has appeared as soloist with, among others, the Orchestra of Radio-Tele-Luxemburg, Saarbrucken Radio Orchestra, South-West German Philharmonie, Munich Bach Orchestra and Ensemble Modern of Frankfurt and the U.S. Air Force Band. With the AHQ he has performed with the Sinfonia Varsovia in Warsaw, the Royal Philharmonic of Stockholm, the Symphony Orchestra of Bordeaux, Beethovenhalle Orchestra Bonn, Moscow Radio Orchestra, Illinois Philharmonic and the Birmingham Symphony, just to name only a few. He has also recorded extensively. The Horn Call magazine dubbed Kerry “a remarkable individual. Not only is his hornistry of world class level, but also his compositional skills are wonderful….a fantastic musician who just happens to play the horn” (Dressler, Horn Call 5/04).
Kristina Mascher has been active as an orchestral horn player, chamber musician, soloist, and clinician in the culturally rich European music scene over the past 15 years. After receiving her Bachelor of Music Degree at the University of Wisconsin in Madison with Douglas Hill, she moved to Germany, where she continued her studies at the Hanns Eisler Conservatory in Berlin under Prof. Kurt Palm, earning her Orchestral und Soloist diplomas. Ms. Mascher has also studied with Fergus McWilliam of the Berlin Philharmonic. Early in her career, Kristina was engaged as principal horn in various chamber orchestras in the United States and Berlin, Germany. Particularly noteworthy were a series of tours she performed as Principal Horn with the Gustav Mahler Youth Orchestra under the direction of Claudio Abbado, Pierre Boulez and Kent Nagano. In 1999, Kristina was engaged in the Odense Symfoniorkester in Denmark and six months later assumed the position of Principal Horn with the Brussels Philharmonic (Flemish Radio Orchestra) in Belgium (1999-2006), with whom she recorded and toured, and with whom she was featured in a special profile for Belgian television (VRT.) Currently Interim 3rd horn with the Orchestre Philharmonique du Luxembourg, she is also a frequent guest with the Antwerp Philharmonic Orchestra, the Beethoven Orchester Bonn, the Liège Philharmonic, and the NDR Radiophilharmonie in Hannover. A passionate chamber musician, Kristina is a member of the Immanuel Trio of Amsterdam and the Ni Ensemble of Luxembourg, first prizewinners in the 9th International Passau Competition. She has appeared as a guest artist with the American Horn Quartet in Slovakia, Spain, Australia, the United States, South Korea, and South Africa. Ms. Mascher has taught master classes in the US, Czech Republic, Singapore, South Africa, Hungary, the UK, and China, and has performed in over 30 countries on six continents.
Repertoire with Orchestra:
Concerto in Eb for Two Horns and Orchestra/ Franz Joseph Haydn
Concerto in Eb no.III for Two Horns and Orchestra/ Anton Rosetti
Concerto in D major Two Horns and Orchestra/ Georg Phillip Telemann
Concerto in D major Two Horns and Orchestra/ Antonio Vivaldi
Concerto No.II "L'Estro Armonico"/
Antonio Vivaldi
Brandenburg Concerto Nr. 1/ J. S. Bach
Divertimento for 2 Horns and Orchestra/ J. W. Kalliwoda
Concerto Grosso in d minor for 2 Violins and Orchestra(adaptation)/Antonio Vivaldi
Twas a Dark and Stormy Night (orchestra version)/ Kerry Turner
Fantasia Concertante/ Bernhard Krol
Recital Repertoire (selection):
6 Grand Duets/ Otto Nicolai
6 Duos/ Louis Dauprat
12 Duets/ W. A. Mozart
4 Duos/ Kerry Turner
African Impressions/ Paul Basler
6 Grand Duos/ Franz Duvernoy
All the Things You Are (with piano)/ Kern/ Hammerstein
Siciliana/ J. S. Bach
Two Part Inventions/ J. S. Bach
Twas a Dark and Stormy Night (with piano)/ Kerry Turner
Lauretta Bloomer, the pianist with the Virtuoso Horn Duo, was born in Oxford, England and studied at the Royal College of Music in London with Y. Solomon. Lauretta specializes in chamber music and received a special invitation to study this discipline with H. Medjimorec and G. Ebert in Vienna. During her busy career, she has performed with such soloists as Bruno Pasquier and Franz Helmerson, and has worked with ensembles in North America and Europe. She forms a regular duo with violist Michael Gieler and is a member of the Immanuel Horn Trio of Amsterdam. Lauretta was invited to perform at the School of Fine Arts in Banff, Canada and was special guest at the first International Course for Contemporary Music in Siguenza, Spain. Ms. Bloomer moved to Holland in 1993 where she works as a repetiteur with the Netherlands Opera Center. Lauretta has recently completed a recording and been featured in a documentary for Irish television performing works by Clara Schumann, on Clara Schumann’s piano, in period costume. She has also collaborated with the Concertgebouw Orchestra, Amsterdam Sinfonietta, Netherlands Chamber Orchestra, Netherlands Philharmonic, and the Dutch Radio Orchestra, and is a much sought-after chamber music partner in the Benelux area as well as the United Kingdom.
Contact Information and Bookings:
Kerry Turner / Kristina Mascher
4, Rue du Kiem
L-8030 Strassen
Luxembourg
Tel/Fax: (+352) 2644 0637
kdturner@pt.lu / horngoddess@gmail.com
