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Musicians get instruction from professional
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Aspiring French horn players, from middle school students to adults, listen to Stephen Kostyniak, a member of the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, explain some of the intricacies of the instrument during the Third Annual Horn Workshop on Sunday at Dana School of Music in Bliss Hall at Youngstown State University.
By Joe Gorman
YOUNGSTOWN
Aspiring French horn players of all ages got tips from an expert Sunday.
Stephen Kostyniak, associate principal horn of the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, talked on technique and what it’s like to be a member of a symphony before a crowd of about 35 people as part of the Dana School of Music’s Third Annual Horn Workshop at Youngstown State University.
One of the most important things they need to have is confidence, Kostyniak said. He also said practice is key to mastering playing difficult music.
“You can’t stop to think about. It has to become intuitive,” Kostyniak said. “And that only comes from lots and lots of practice.”
Dr. Stacie Mickens, assistant professor of horn at YSU, said the workshop serves players as young as middle-school age all the way to adults. She said she was glad Kostyniak could attend so the community could hear him play and lecture.
Mickens also said she wanted students to know what it is like to be in a professional, big-city orchestra.
Kostyniak spoke of techniques, ways to breathe when playing the instrument, scales, and even math at one point, but Mickens said when it’s all boiled down, the issue is simple.
“It’s still music. It’s still an art,” Mickens said.
Kostyniak has been playing the French horn since he was 8 and attended the Juliard School of Music at 17 and performed with several different orchestras, artists and has also made recordings. One of the students asked him what should a musician do if they should no longer play.
Kostyniak said he had that problem, as he went a year and a half without being able to play because of a physical problem. The ordeal was scary, he said.
“That’s a very frightening thing to deal with, to decide to do this for the rest of your life and then wake up one day and not be able to do it,” Kostyniak said.
Kostyniak said he underwent lessons and also learned how to change his technique to play differently so the same physical problem would not crop up again. He said at times it was a struggle, because he would be doing well for a short period of time then relapse into bad habits, but he was able to get back to his form.
Again, he said, it comes back to confidence.
“There’s a lot of confidence among horn players. We’re perfectionists,” Kostyniak said. “You really have to mean it.”