When Dr. Cynthia McGregor received an e-mail asking if she would like to play a concert with The Who, she said she thought it was a tribute band.
Turned out “it’s the real me, doctor.”
McGregor, a Southwestern College dean and French horn virtuoso, will be on stage with Pete Townshend and Roger Daltrey as The Who performs its seminal rock Opera “Tommy” at Viejas Arena. She was enlisted to play some of the French horn parts performed by bassist/brass player John Entwistle on the 1969 recording.
After years of hard work and practicing French horn, she said she finally feels like a rock star.
“I’ve been glowing,” she said.
McGregor said she grew up listening to The Who and said the band’s music was part of the soundtrack of her life.
“They’re like The Rolling Stones,” she said. “You just hear their music everywhere!”
SC students too young to be experts in British Invasion bands such as The Beatles, Rolling Stones, The Kinks and The Who nevertheless hear music by The Who almost daily on the radio and television commercials for GMC trucks (“Eminence Front”) and T-Mobile (“Baba O’Riley”). The Who also performed the Super Bowl halftime show in 2010.
Veteran San Diego Union-Tribune pop music critic George Varga said a true performance by The Who needs French horns.
“The Who’s late bassist, John Entwistle, was himself a French hornist and played the instrument on The Who’s recording of ‘Pictures of Lily,’” he said. “That should make Cynthia’s experience playing with The Who doubly memorable.”
Entwistle also played memorable French horn parts on classics “5:15,” “I’m a Boy,” “My Wife” and the overture to “Tommy.”
Numerous emails were exchanged before McGregor realized she wasn’t talking with a local cover band, she said. They were the real deal—accompanied with a full symphony orchestra.
SC’s dean of the school of Arts, Communication and Social Science said she hasn’t been able to practice with the legendary guitarist Pete Townshend just yet. So far, it’s been solo performances in her home office with the sheet music and setlist provided by the band.
Orchestra musicians will not rehearse together until the show’s soundcheck the day of the concert, McGregor said.
Most of the setlist are songs from “Tommy,” she said. Orchestra members will wear concert black and headphones playing different click tracks or synchronized audio cues so they can follow with the band.
McGregor joined the SC facility in 2004 and taught music for 14 years. She became dean on July 1, 2018. She has been an advocate for performing arts programs, she said, and has tried to help faculty find resources.
“I am very familiar with what the arts needs are, both for performing and visual,” she said.
“I have done what I can to help them try and figure out a way to fund what they need.”
McGregor said she always liked music, but came to French horn during her sophomore year in high school. She read a short newspaper article about a high school orchestra going on tour in Australia.
“The very last sentence said we really need more French horns,” she recalled.
When she met orchestra director Eric Hammer she started to gain of confidence in her ability to master a notoriously difficult instrument, she said. They worked together for years. Before he died Hammer introduced McGregor to a new mentor, Tim Smith, who changed her life, she said.
SC Performing Arts Coordinator Silvia Nogales said she is happy for her boss.
“We are so thrilled to know that our Dean Cynthia McGregor will be performing with the legendary group, The Who!” Nogales said. “We are so proud and excited for her.”
Doug Hall, a friend of McGregor, said he enjoys having her in his French horn choir Hornswoggle, which performs annually at SC.
“I’m so proud of her,” he said. “She’s a wonderful person and musician. Cynthia is a very busy executive at Southwestern College, mom of two musicians and a horn player.”
McGregor said this kind of experience can be achieved by students if they remain steadfast on their dreams and continue to improve themselves.
“Success is a combination of hard work, talent, patience and luck,” she said. “We can control hard work and we can foster talent through it. We just need to find the opportunities that help (a student) realize their dreams.”