FEATURED ARTIST

Grand Rapids Symphony horn section

Paul Austin, Richard Britsch, Mary Beth Orr, and Erich Peterson

Paul Austin

Noted by critics for his “absolutely stunning way of playing the horn” (Holzminden Zeitung) as well as being “tender on the warm French Horn” (The Grand Rapids Press), Paul Austin also has been praised by the Kalamazoo Gazette, which observed how “the audience was charmed, thanks to Austin's witty narratives.”

Dr Austin holds degrees from the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music and Tennessee Tech University. He was a Resident Artist at the Banff Centre for the Arts in Canada and studied in London as a recipient of a Gilmore Emerging Artist grant.

Presently Paul is in his twenty-sixth season as a member of the Grand Rapids Symphony (GRS) horn section. He has performed at the Banff, Fontana, Saugatuck, and Southern Illinois summer music festivals, and was the Wind Area Coordinator for Interlochen’s Chamber Music Camp. Paul Austin has been held to critical acclaim on five recordings which have been released by OgreOgress Productions, featuring music by American composers John Cage, Morton Feldman, Philip Glass, Alan Hovhaness, and Robert Shechtman.

Paul Austin is the Advertising Agent for the International Horn Society. He actively promotes historical instruments and is the author of A Modern Valve Horn Player's Guide to the Natural Horn.

Richard Britsch

Richard Britsch, Senior Affiliate Professor of Horn at Grand Valley State University has been Principal Horn of the Grand Rapids Symphony since 1990. Formerly with the Sarasota Orchestra, he has appeared as soloist numerous times with the Grand Rapids Symphony and the Peninsula Music Festival, where he has also been Principal Horn since 1992. He performs regularly with the Detroit Symphony and has performed as guest Principal Horn with the Milwaukee Symphony and the Taegu City Symphony in Korea. In addition to being a founding member of the Florida Wind Quintet, he was a member of the Emerald Brass, which won first prize in both the Fischoff Chamber Music Competition and the Yamaha/Summit Brass International Brass Competition. He holds a BA from the University of South Florida in Tampa He has taught horn at Calvin College, Grand Rapids Community College, and Manatee Community College in Bradenton, Florida.

Mary Beth Orr

Mary Beth Orr, born and raised in Charleston, SC is an elite orchestral musician, soloist, and chamber musician, most recently a first prize winner of both the Golden Classical International Music Awards 2021 and the American Protégé International Talent Competition 2021. She will be premiering as a soloist at Carnegie hall in October of 2021.

She has held summer positions at the Breckenridge Music Festival and the Interlochen Institute. Her freelance career has included performing with the Detroit Symphony, Charleston Symphony, and Monarch Brass.

As a solo artist, she has received 2nd prize in the professional division of the International Horn Competition of America 2013, and 1st prize in the professional horn division of the Susan Slaughter Solo Competition during the International Woman’s Brass Conference 2019. In the Summer of 2017 she made her premier at the Spoleto Music Festival in Charleston, SC as a featured recital soloist with her mixed ensemble Femme Forte.

In 2018, she premiered “French Horn Folk Tales”, her fusion of folk and classical music and in the process of arranging and recording for the subsequent album to be released in 2023.

Currently, she is 3rd Horn for the Grand Rapids Symphony.

Erich Peterson

Erich Peterson received both his Bachelor’s and Master’s Degrees in Horn Performance from Northwestern University, where he studied with Dale Clevenger, Norman Schweikert and Gail Williams. Currently, Erich is the Assistant Principal/Second Horn with the Grand Rapids Symphony — having joined the orchestra in March, 2004. In addition to his playing duties, Erich began as Personnel Manager of the Grand Rapids Symphony in July, 2007. Before coming to Grand Rapids, Erich was a member of the national tour of Les Misérables with whom he performed more than 1500 shows in over 40 states and Canada over a period of 6 years. While living in Chicago, Erich was an active free-lance musician performing with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Israel Philharmonic, Ravinia Festival Orchestra and Chicago Opera Theater. Erich was also active as a studio musician having recorded hundreds of television/radio commercials and video game soundtracks. Erich maintains an active teaching schedule both at home and as an adjunct faculty member at Calvin University, Hope College and Cornerstone University. When not playing or teaching, Erich can be found birding or solving puzzles of all kinds.

SCHEDULE

all events take place in Dalton Center

12:00 p.m. Registration for Solo Competition participants

Perform your solo/ensemble piece or any other appropriate work for Dr. Baird and a member of the Grand Rapids Symphony. One person will be selected from this competition to play in the masterclass later in the day and everyone will receive written comments. There are limited slots, so sign up soon!

1:00 p.m. General Registration, group warm-up and reading session

1:30 p.m. Recital—Western Horn Choir and 

Featured Artist Soloists 

3:00 p.m. Mass Horn Choir Rehearsal (all participants)

4:00 p.m. Featured Artist Masterclass

Grand Rapids Symphony horn section

Paul Austin, Richard Britsch, Mary Beth Orr, 

and Erich Peterson

5:45 p.m. Break

Sandwiches and snacks will be served to participants

6:30 p.m. Final Concert

Featured Artists Paul Austin, Richard Britsch, 

Mary Beth Orr, and Erich Peterson

WMU Horn Professor Lin Baird

Western Horn Choir

Mass Horn Choir

Details

• The registration fee (please pay at the door) is $30 per participant, which provides food and helps sponsor the featured artist.  Please make checks payable to “WMU”. The final concert requires no admission fee and is open to the public. Family members of participants may observe any part of the day free of charge.

• Public parking is available in the structure adjacent to Miller Auditorium free of charge. 

• Please bring your own instrument and mouthpiece. Music for the mass horn choir will be provided at the workshop. Please dress casually.

• Directions to Dalton Center

• Please contact Dr. Lin Baird with any questions.

Horn Day is made possible in part by a WMU horn studio endowment established by Robert R. and Ruth J. Fink.