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Jen Montone - Live on Sarah's Horn Hangouts

Jen Montone – Toolbox, Tone and Teaching
Featuring the Curtis Horns

Recorded live at the Curtis Institute of Music on Feb.10th, 2019


The Making of Gabrieli

In 2014, some of the country’s finest classical brass musicians got together in the Bay Area to recreate a seminal 1968 recording of sacred music by the great Italian Renaissance composer Giovanni Gabrieli — and also lay down a new work specially written for them by American film composer John Williams.

The Principal Horn Hangout

Five of the world´s top principal horns on Sarah´s Horn Hangouts, live from the International Horn Society in Los Angeles. 
Julie Landsman, Jennifer Montone, Andrew Bain, Tim Jones and Stefan Dohr talk about their illustrious careers to Sarah Willis with live questions from the online viewers.
 

Composed Documentary - Full Trailer

Through the lens of professional classical musicians, Composed explores the many ways we experience and can address performance anxiety. Faced with the judgment of peers, audience, conductors, and worst of all themselves, these musicians spend years trying to understand and overcome the physical and mental manifestations of their anxiety. Through their stories, we learn valuable lessons learned over a lifetime of professional performance; and we find that we are not alone in our quest to overcome the fear of failure and embarrassment. For anyone wanting to feel strength over fear and compassion over judgment, or simply seeking a closer look at anxiety and what makes us tick, Composed opens the door to a world of high stakes, high pressure, and peak performing.

Jennifer Montone Brass Chats | Season 2, Episode 2

She crushes it on the horn and always has. She says curse words in job interviews. Her mental game alone is stronger than all of the skills we have—combined. She has overcome great obstacles and injuries; she knows how to practice. She is a superstar. She is the Boss. She is all of these things, and much much more—at a young age with myriad untold wonders to offer the world in the future.

What we're trying to say is, holy moly, were we ever lucky to score an interview with the Principal Horn (I know, horn, right?! Us!!) of the Philadelphia Orchestra JEN MONTONE! Here it is, this month's inspiration feast. Enjoy!

Jennifer Montone: Mindfulness and Commitment Drive Success


Interview with The International Musician: Jennifer Montone of Local 77 (Philadelphia, PA) became principal horn for The Philadelphia Orchestra in 2006 at age 29. She teaches at two of the most prestigious music schools in the country and is an acclaimed soloist and chamber musician. She speaks enthusiastically about all of her work and the constant challenge of maintaining balance in her life.

The Working Music Podcast: Episode 59

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David Pedrick talks with fellow professional musicians about the business of making music. In this interview, we covered the following topics:

  • Philadelphia Orchestra

  • Leadership

  • Brave opinions

  • Balance

  • And more!

Skip The Repeat Podcast: Interview

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Episode Description: Jennifer Montone is very proud of her students. Jen talks to Kai about how her sister influenced her decision to pursue the dream to become a musician (4), the central role performance psychology has played in her career (22:50), and the accident that changed the course of that career (30:45). They also discuss the stigma musicians feel when they decide to do something different (42:40), and what she has learned from being the mother to two small boys (1:02:30).

The Brass Junkies Episode 80: Jennifer Montone of the Philadelphia Orchestra

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TBJ80: Philadelphia Orchestra Principal Horn Jennifer Montone on playing, meditating and telling your own story

Jennifer Montone has played with the Philadelphia Orchestra for 11 years. Prior to that, she spent time in the Dallas, St. Louis and New Jersey Symphonies and teaches at both Curtis and Juilliard.

Looking Back at the Philadelphia Orchestra's Visit to Mongolia

The Philadelphia Orchestra is back from its debut in Mongolia, where planned full-orchestra concerts needed to be canceled due to a nation-wide financial crisis. Instead, a contingent of 18 musicians spent two days in the capital city of Ulaanbaatar. Now, the Philadelphia Inquirer's David Patrick Stearns asks what this could lead to.

Women Brass Players in the US - Part 2: 1946 to present

Female players on all instruments gained considerable acceptance during World War II, as detailed in Part I of this article (The Horn Call, May 2016), but with the war over, many of the old arguments against women players reemerged. While barriers had been eroded, they had not ceased to exist, and the joy of the American public at the return of its soldiers translated into a (sometimes voluntary) loss of orchestral jobs for women musicians. The 1950's were a regressive decade for working women, and orchestral players were no exception. Several decades would pass before the number of professional players again reached the levels seen in the early-mid 1940's.

Montone Plays Strauss: The Philadelphia Orchestra on WRTI

Join us on Sunday, August 23 at 1 pm for The Philadelphia Orchestra In Concert on WRTI. In this January, 2015 concert, Christoph Eschenbach, Philadelphia Orchestra music director from 2003 to 2008, returns to Verizon Hall to lead this all-German program. And the Orchestra’s principal horn Jennifer Montone plays the Richard Strauss Horn Concerto No. 1.

Medical Issues:  An Accidental Journey

Not all facial injuries affecting horn players are the result of overuse.  my injust was the result of a seemingly minor car accident.  Unfortunately, it affected my job as principal horn in the St. Louis symphony for most of a season; fortunately I am expected to completely recover.

Orchestral Notes: Bruckner Symphony No. 4

An Interview with Jennifer Montone; Richard Chenoweth, Series Editor

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Bruckner’s Symphony No. 4 “The Romantic” is one of his often-performed symphonies. It was one of the few works of his to receive a fairly positive reception at its premiere and has since remained in the common orchestral repertoire. One of the reasons it is more often performed is because it calls for a smaller instrumentation, with only four horns and no tuben – his popular seventh through ninth symphonies call for eight horns, four of those also performing on Wagner tuben.

Anton Bruckner (1824-1896) achieved renown as an organist, recitalist, and teacher based in Vienna. His initial compositions were sacred in nature, a reflection of his deeply held spiritual faith. An ardent disciple of Richard Wagner, Bruckner’s symphonies were Wagnerian in scope, sonority, and length. The majority of his symphonies were not well-received at their premieres and these works have many versions, as his friends often suggested cuts and revisions to make them more popular with audiences and critics.

Once Upon A Time

Jennifer Montone’s path from ordinary to exceptional inspires students

BY RUOKAI CHEN

Photo credit: Peter Checchia

Photo credit: Peter Checchia

For every handful of musicians smitten by an instrument when hearing Britten’s Young Person’s Guide to the Orchestra, another group will claim Prokofiev’s Peter and the Wolf. The elementary Let’s Go Band, by Andrew Ballent, may not be of the same caliber, yet it introduced fourth grader Jennifer Montone to distinctive sounds, thanks to her sister, Michelle. Michelle played a tape recording of her band’s concert performance for her young sister and showed her pictures of the instruments. Jennifer chose one she remembers as sounding and looking “pretty”: the horn.