When I was a young thing the arrival of the British Horn Society magazine was always a huge treat. Whilst I was very lucky, growing up in a vibrantly musical city full of plenty of things to keep young musicians happy and busy, the BHS provided a bit of an outlook on what other people were up to and gave me a taste of things to aspire to.
The annual horn day (in those days it always seemed to be at the Guildhall School of Music) was partly terrifying (going along and rarely knowing anyone, my father quite happily leaving me there for the day to fend for myself) but very inspiring. I still have my copy of "The Business" (a book co-authored by a number of leading horn players on how to survive "the business") which was signed by the authors and anyone who seemed to know how to weald a horn in an impressive style.
I was very flattered to be asked to play at the last BHS event in Cardiff. It had a french theme and I had been asked to play some Gallay. It was an even bigger treat as they had invited Claude Maury as guest of honour so it was a joy to see him.
The most recent edition of the BHS mag arrived on my doorstep the other morning. I must admit to having let my subscription flag for, oh about a decade, but whilst I was at the last BHS bash it came back to me just what good work they do inspiring musicians young and old, and therefore thought I really ought to join up once more and support their valuable work. An added bonus was finding a lovely review of the Gallay disc in the review section which can now also be found here: http://www.annekescott.com/reviews.html
