The death of hornist Calvin Smith earlier this year left quite a vacuum in both the Knoxville Symphony Orchestra and the UT School of Music--Smith was both the principal horn in the KSO and the horn faculty in the School of Music. While fond memories of Smith, his teaching, and his playing remain, concert halls inevitably fill for the new season and life goes on. The KSO and the UT SOM have now accomplished the chore of filling the positions.
After auditioning 25 or so horn players for the Principal Horn position, the KSO selected a local hornist, Jeffery Whaley, for a one year appointment. Whaley has been on the music faculty at East Tennessee State University and is currently the Principal Horn for the Symphony of the Mountains based in Kingsport.
Originally from Sevierville, Whaley received his music training with Arthur LaBar at Tennessee Tech and later with Nicholas Smith at Wichita State.
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The horn faculty position at the UT School of Music has been
filled by Norwegian native Karl Kramer. Kramer comes to Knoxville and UT with extensive orchestral and chamber music playing experience--he was a member of the Jupiter Chamber Music Players and the Dorian Wind Quintet, and was principal horn for the Jupiter Symphony Orchestra for four years. Kramer is well known in new music circles having been a member of Ensemble PI, American Modern Ensemble and a guest with Parnassus, Sequitur and other groups. He has premiered works by Marc-Antonio Consoli, Kile Smith, Wolfgang Plagge, Eric Moe and others.
Kramer brings a wealth of orchestral experience to teaching; he has been seen in the pit orchestras for shows such as Beauty and the Beast, La Cage aux Folles, The Music Man, Thoroughly Modern Millie and others. He has played regularly with Long Island Philharmonic, Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, New York City Ballet, American Composers Orchestra, American Symphony Orchestra, Brooklyn Philharmonic, Brandenburg Ensemble, New York Chamber Ensemble and Sequitur.
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