The Horn Society of the Carolinas was formed in February 2009 about a month after a gathering of Charlotte NC area horn players performed for a “Brass Fest” concert with the David Silden Brass Ensemble, organized by a local teacher and tuba/euphonium player David Silden. Although many of the horn players had played together for the first time, it was suggested that we form a casual group of area horn players with the purpose of reading and enjoying works for horn choir. This quickly evolved into finding a semi-permanent place to gather and rehearse with the first meeting attracting 20+ horn players!

The Horn Society of the Carolinas now enjoys a core group of roughly 16 amateur and professional players from all walks of life that travel from the surrounding counties,that meet twice-monthly in the Charlotte area. A typical rehearsal usually involves reading from a diverse repertoire of over 80 horn pieces arranged for 4 up to 12 players. We’re also fortunate to have players within the group that have done their own arrangements for us to the point that we now have nearly 10 pieces arranged specifically for the Horn Society of the Carolinas.

If you have a passion for playing French horn (who doesn’t?) but can’t find horn-centric playing opportunities in your area, you’re welcome to come play with us. Our rehearsals are open to any individual with at least high school or college-level playing ability and who enjoys LOTS of sight-reading! You’re welcome to attend rehearsals for as long as you like with no commitment whatsoever….however, if you enjoy the group enough that you’d like to go beyond just our bi-monthly reading sessions and actually perform with us, we’d like you to consider membership with the Horn Society of the Carolinas. Rehearsals are typically held on the 1st and 3rd Fridays of each month and run from 7:30pm (warm-up at 7pm) to about 9:30pm. If you think you’d like to attend a rehearsal, just drop us a note and tell us a little bit about yourself. We’ll also let you know if this is an appropriate time attend a rehearsal or whether we’re preparing for an upcoming performance. During performance rehearsals, we tend to “lock down” attendance to only our membership that has committed to that performance.

If you’ve never heard a large horn ensemble or horn choir, you’re in for a treat….if you’ve already heard a horn choir then you already know what I’m talking about. Quite simply, we think it’s “The Greatest Sound on Earth!” but we might be biased. The French horn is rather unique among the brass instruments in that it can cover a wide range, in both pitch, dynamics and “color” or timbre, to the point where a large horn ensemble can cover all “voices” from top-to-bottom (nearly four octaves). This opens up the possibility for a rather wide range (pun intended) of musical genres and styles. If you think you may have a performing opportunity for us, feel free to contact us. We can organize into ensembles ranging from small trios/quartets up to large ensembles of eight or more players. If you’re not SURE what a horn ensemble might sound like, contact us before one of our rehearsals and maybe we can arrange an “audition” for you at our next gathering. Just tell us what the venue might be and what style you’re looking for and we’ll see what we can come up with. Any “funds” raised from our performances go right back to the group to purchase new music or for other expenses. Please visit our Contact page and send us a note if you have an interest in us performing.