Photo by Thomas Contant.
A strange thing happened to a room full of students coerced into attending a brass ensemble performance for extra credit… they actually enjoyed it.
They were Hornswoggled!
A regional favorite, Hornswoggle is a rotating band of French horn players and super musicians whose talent and energy has been winning over tough houses for years.
Conducted by John Lorge, Hornswoggle’s collection of professional, community and student French horn players have lit the stage for 10 years.
Performing their greatest hits, the musicians took the audience through a century of popular tunes and along with compositions by SWC Professor of Music Dr. Cynthia McGregor. Hornswoggle opened up with “Amazing Grace,” “A Closer Walk with Thee” and “America.” Its lively rendition of music from the Roaring ‘20s transformed the crowd into jazz babies.
Lorge kept the audience informed as well as entertained. He set up every number maximizing the audience’s enjoyment.
Players moved fluidly from the Mexican bullfight standard “El Paso Doble” to “Star Wars” compositions. McGregor honored her father with a lovely composition of the Irish folk standard “Danny Boy.”
McGregor cast aside the seriousness of the member’s all black-attire when she created a funky French horn with tools presented by her two young daughters. She used a garden hose, roughly half the size of a French horn, an oil funnel and mouth piece to create a “French hose.”
“This abstract instrument can play all harmonics on the F horn,” said Lorge.
McGregor proved him correct as she playfully swung the hose in the air without missing a note.
“The Warrior Melody,” a mashup of martial mayhem, was the grand finale. Hornswoggle won the battle for students’ attention and the war for the classical arts. Biennial performances at SWC have become a tradition well worth the wait.
