Taking The Who by the horn, Dean jams with legends

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, joined Pete Townshend and Roger Daltrey as The Who performed its seminal rock opera “Tommy” at Viejas Arena. She jammed on French horn parts performed by bassist/brass player John Entwistle on the 1969 recording.

I’m A Sensation!

After years of hard work mastering the tricky French horn, McGregor 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 as well as 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 music critic George Varga said a true performance by The Who needs French horns. He gave McGregor a shout out in his U-T review.

“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.” He died in 2002.

Crazy Flipper Fingers

A flurry of emails were exchanged before McGregor realized she was not communicating 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 Sciences said she did not rehearse directly with the legendary guitarist Townshend, but practiced to a click track in her home office with the sheet music and setlist provided by the band.

Orchestra musicians rehearsed together only briefly during a pre-show sound check, McGregor said.

“Hey, we’re professionals, we know what to do!” she said, with a pronounced twinkle in her eye.

Most of the setlist were songs from “Tommy,” she said. Orchestra members wore concert black and headphones playing click tracks or synchronized audio cues so they could accompany the band. She sat in a cozy orchestra loft just above and behind the heads of Townshend and Daltrey. Her life flashed before her eyes as the lasers pivoted and raced across the arena.

Meet the New Boss

McGregor joined the SC facility in 2004 and taught music for 14 years. She became dean in July 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 she said changed her life.

Doug Hall, said he enjoys having his friend McGregor in his French horn ensemble, 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.”

Join Together with the Band

McGregor said she was able to watch The Who do its sound check on stage. She took videos and even a few selfies in an almost empty arena. It was, she said, like a private concert.

SC music adjunct Healy Henderson played violin in the orchestra and was orchestra manager.

“She was playing and she made sure everyone was in their places as they needed to be,” said

McGregor. “I thought it was cool that they had the first violinist and the first cellist that were on tour with them and they have been doing performances throughout the country. I feel like they are my people. It was really fun seeing that vibrant, classically-trained music being integrated into rock music.”

McGregor said her favorite song to perform was “The Rock,” because it had the most French horn music.

A massive Jumbotron gave McGregor’s friends and family opportunities for pictures of her on screen, seated right above Townshend and Daltrey.

“I could spit on them if I wanted too,” said McGregor with a laugh. (She decided not to.)

She even has a video of Townshend saying “Thank you to the orchestra” as the cameras pan her face.

“The orchestra was so thrilled to have this kind of opportunity to be in a rock group,” she said.

Her French horn parts were not difficult, McGregor said, and she did not have to practice much.

She confessed that her biggest challenge was being there to work, instead of enjoying the show like other fans.

“It was a totally different mindset for me when I sat down.”

Tommy Can Your Hear Me?

Headphones that played the click track were essential, she said, due to the tsunami of sound crashing off the walls, fierce feedback and audience noise. She also wore earplugs due to the blasting trumpets right behind her head.

“It was really challenging to feel in control of everything when there was so much that was different in your brain in terms of how you play,” she said. “We’re trained to listen to each other and have that responsibility. It made me feel very fortunate that I got to experience this kind of performance. It’s a completely different way of framing of being a musician when you’re on stage like that supporting a legend.”

The Kids Are Alright

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. As educators we need to find opportunities that help (students) realize their dreams.”

Playing with The Who reminded her of lessons she tried to teach her students.

“We all need to take risks,” she said. “And taking risks sometimes we fail, sometimes we succeed, but in all those failures you learn to do better.”

McGregor is now the proud owner of a Who t-shirt, guitar pick and other souvenirs. Her faculty seem to enjoy giving her the business about her flirtation with rock-n-roll stardom.

An admiring colleague sang his take on “Pinball Wizard” in the ACSS faculty room just loud enough for McGregor to hear:

“That deft, mum and kind dean/sure plays a mean French horn!”