Cor Issues: Horn Section Core Fundamentals
Clinic Synopsis:
Members of the United States Navy Band horn section will discuss and demonstrate the unique challenges of equipping members of a horn section with individual skills as well as the skills necessary for section playing. These challenges will be demonstrated with musical selections performed by the United States Navy Band Horn Section .
United States Navy Band French Horn Section
- Biographical Information
The United States Navy Band is the premier musical organization of the U.S .Navy. Comprised of six primary performing groups as well as a host of smaller ensembles, "The World's Finest" is capable of playing any style of music in any setting. Since its inception in 1925, the Navy Band has been entertaining audiences and supporting the Navy with some of the best musicians in the country. From national concert tours to presidential inaugurals to memorial services at Arlington National Cemetery, the Navy Band proudly represents the men and women of the largest, most versatile, most capable naval force on the planet today: America's Navy. The Navy Band Horn section has performed and been guest clinicians at high schools and university all over the country. They also have been featured at numerous workshops and conferences. Members of the Navy Band horn section have graduated from many of the countries most prestigious music schools.
Chief Musician Jason Ayoub - Biographical Information
Chief Musician Jason Ayoub, a native of El Paso, Texas, joined the Navy Band in 2006. He received his Bachelor of Music from the University of North Texas (UNT), where he studied with William Scharnberg. During his final year at UNT, he joined the nationally acclaimed Dallas Brass. For four years he toured extensively with the ensemble throughout the United States, and gave more than 300 performances and master classes. He has been a featured clinician and soloist at The Midwest Clinic as well as numerous Music Teachers National Assocation (MTNA) regional and national conferences.
Ayoub served as third horn with the Waco Symphony from 2001-2003 and third horn with the Delaware Symphony from 2003-2007, and has performed regularly with the Kennett and Baltimore Symphonies. He has also been a guest soloist with the Jackson, Scranton, Louisville and Utah Symphonies. He is featured as the solo horn on Ståle Kleiberg's "Requiem for the Victims of Nazi Persecution", recorded at Washington National Cathedral.
In addition to his performance duties, he serves as a crew chief. an auditions manager, and he is also a member of the Navy Band Brass Quintet. In his spare time he enjoys being outdoors spending time with family.
Master Chief Musician David Kolo - Biographical Information
Master Chief Musician Dave Kolo, a native of Milwaukee, Wis., joined the Navy Band in 1995 after earning a Master of Music from the University of Cincinnati-College Conservatory of Music in 1995 and a Bachelor of Music from the University of Wisconsin in 1993. His primary instructors include Douglas Hill, Barry Benjamin, Michael Hatfield and David Wakefield. He has performed with the Cincinnati Chamber Orchestra and the Madison (Wis.), Alexandria and Fairfax Symphony Orchestras. He attended the Aspen Music Festival in 1991 and 1992 where he performed with the highly acclaimed American Brass Quintet and the Festival and Chamber orchestras. He has also appeared as soloist with the Navy Concert Band.
Kolo currently serves as the Concert/Ceremonial Band Chief in Charge.
Chief Musician Thomas Wheeler - Biographical Information
Tom Wheeler, a native of Millersburg, Ohio, joined the Navy Band in 2003. He studied French Horn at Indiana University where his teachers included Mike Hatfield and Tom Sherwood. Chief Wheeler has performed with the National Symphony Orchestra, the Fairfax Symphony, the Richmond (Indiana) Symphony, and the Ashland Symphony Orchestra. He is also a founding member of the Nova Brass Quintet, a Washington, D.C. based brass quintet.
Additionally, Chief Wheeler is a faculty member of the Prince William County Summer Band camp. He serves as a Navy Band Recreation Committee Chairperson, planning parties and events for the Navy Band. In his free time, he enjoys spending time with his family, reading cookbooks, and making pastries.
Musician First Class Alex Kovling - Biographical Information
Musician 1st Class Alex Kovling, a native of Lewisville, Texas, joined the Navy Band in 2015. He received his Bachelor of Music from Texas Tech University, where he studied with Christopher M. Smith. After graduating, he continued his studies at Rice University, where he earned his Master of Music. While at Rice, Kovling studied with William VerMeulen and was part of a Christmas CD project called “The Christmas Horn” conducted by Dale Clevenger.
While in Texas, Kovling was third horn of the Lubbock Symphony Orchestra from 2010-2013 and second horn of Santa Fe Pro Musica in the 2012-2013 season. He was also a regular substitute/extra horn with the Houston Symphony, San Antonio Symphony and Amarillo Symphony. Doubling on Wagner tuba as well as French horn, Kovling performed with the Houston Grand Opera in Richard Wagner’s “Die Walkure.”
As a student, Petty Officer Kovling won several awards including the Yamaha Young Performing Artist Competition and was a two-time winner of the Mid-South Horn Workshop solo competition. He attended numerous summer festivals, including the National Orchestral Institute for three years, Texas Music Festival, Round Top Festival Institute and the Banff Brass Residency.
Chief Musician Nathaniel Willson - Biographical Information
Chief Musician Nathaniel Willson joined the Navy Band as French hornist in 2014, after serving more than four years with the U.S. Naval Academy Band in Annapolis, Maryland.
Willson was born in Bowling Green, Ohio, but was raised overseas in Japan and India, graduating high school in 1998 from the American Embassy School in New Delhi, India. He holds a Bachelor of Music from The Juilliard School and a Master of Music from the University of Cincinnati. His primary teachers include Randy Gardner, Duane Dugger, Jerome Ashby, Julie Landsman and Bryan Kennedy.
Prior to joining the Navy, Willson was a member of the Oregon Symphony Orchestra and the Sarasota Orchestra. He has also performed with the Detroit Symphony Orchestra, the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, the Seattle Opera and the Washington National Opera.
In his free time, he enjoys traveling, studying history, and spending time with his family.
Musician First Class Pamela Blakely - Biographical Information
Musician 1st Class Pamela Blakely joined the Navy in 2014 and served at Navy Band Great Lakes before joining the U.S. Navy Band in 2016. Originally from Rochester, New York, she earned a Bachelor of Music from Indiana University and a Master of Music from University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music. Her primary instructors were Randy Gardner, Michael Hatfield and William VerMeulen.
Prior to joining the Navy, Blakely was fourth horn with the Memphis Symphony. She has also performed with the Columbus Symphony, Nashville Symphony, Mississippi Symphony, and Cincinnati Chamber Orchestra.
In her free time, she enjoys running road races and spending time with her family and pets.
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