Berlin Philharmonic horn is called to Windsor Castle
NewsPrince Charles yesterday conferred a Membership of the British Empire (MBE) on Sarah Willis, horn player in the Berlin Philharmonic and possibly its most active online personality.
She tweets: ‘utterly thrilled, grateful & proud in equal measures.’
Well deserved & Congratulations!
Outstanding. She is the star of the Digital Concert Hall.
Hope that she will be at the Waldbühne this year like the percussionist Rainer Seegers behind her. They are a part of the soul of the Waldbühne’s concert.
Rainer Seegers retired in summer 2019. His successor at the solo timpani has unfortunately not passed his probationary year, so the Berliner Philharmoniker are continuing their search.
OK. I have seen the BPO in early 2019 in concert I was very happy to see him with the legend Daniel Stabrawa. I didn’t know that it was one of their last concerts together.
Actually they alredy find successor earlier in this year: Vincent Vogel – their former academist + also former student of Rainer Seegers
https://www.berliner-philharmoniker.de/en/news/detail/sebastian-jacot-wins-audition-for-the-position-of-principal-flute/
And after that probation period, Benjamin Forster has return back to his original orchestra Tonhalle Zurich
They appear to have found someone else to start probation as timpanist – Vincent Vogel: https://www.berliner-philharmoniker.de/news/detail/sebastian-jacot-gewinnt-probespiel-fuer-die-stelle-der-solofloete/
She seems a very nice person. Good personality.
She’s really got balls.
She is an absolute lovely person
Did they serve frobscottle?
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=1o6fYLcv7tk
Such an enthusiastic personality and a great ambassador for the Berlin Phil and for music in general. Her series of “Horn Hangouts” on Youtube are interesting and delightful. Perhaps the best is her visit to Arturo Sandoval’s home in Florida where he plays her horn with considerable aplomb (Ravel Pavane for Dead Princess from memory) and also talks a lot about how the sound a player makes is in the head first and only then in the instrument. He demonstrates with the opening of Mahler 5…..
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u1SYvXWeoFc
Her interview with Myron Bloom in 2013 was enjoyable even when she briefly suggested to him that George Szell was a “pussycat”!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ic98DRQim9A
John Kelly: Thank you for putting me on to the delightful; informative and moving video of her interview with the great Arturo Sandoval.
Born in Bethesda, Maryland
As English as the day is long! Well done, Sarah.
She might have gone through a steady diet of fish and chips and porridge, with the requisite glass of lime juice to drink. But her cockiness is all-American.
Brava, Sarah! And, perhaps most importantly, let’s not forget that she is a monster horn player…
Indeed!
She is an amazingly ebullient ambassador for music who deserves all the medals she can get. Without wishing to appear a killjoy, the 21st century with the current war in Ukraine is not the time to award gongs for an empire that, thank god, no longer exists. Hope to get a plethora of thumbs down from royalists and anyone holding anachronistic views.
Royalists, if Brexiteers, give me the willies.
Bravissima!
I like her dress. EU-blue!
Ukraine blue, my boy!
Wonder about the usual frustrated ,misanthropic ,hapless sad sacks giving thumbs down to nice and well deserved comments….
Medal of the British “Empire”? As in the empire of England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales? Of which Charles will be the future Emperor?
The only leader who can use the word “empire” these days without irony is Darth Vador ; )
Congratulations to Sarah Willis, henceforth, Sarah Willis BEM on her passport, who deserves all the medals going her way, whatever they are called.
Don’t wanna be a killjoy either, but … gotta say it … they are both maskless and inches from each other’s face.
That’s how the Queen gets infected.
You can come out of the bunker now, Private Parts!
Masks are history in England. In any case, the preponderance of scientific evidence suggests that masks do not make a significant difference to COVID-19 transmission, but that masks can be harmful to breathing and cause bacterial infection. Moreover, most of us in England, including old Lizzie, have had COVID-19 already (some more than once). Time to get on with life without the burden of a bacteria-riddled dirty rag around our faces.
eww, that speaks volumes about your personal hygiene
and no, the science does not even come close to whatever you’re blathering about
A wonderful musician, as is her brother, conductor Alastair Willis.
That she is and will be performing with her brother in September in South Bend, IN.
If you think it’s awkward calling those medals “Empire” *now*, imagine what it was like… before there was an Empire!
Absolutely gorgeous lady – beauty, style, class, elegance – oh, and she happens to be a damn good horn player too
Congratulations, dear Sarah!
Great news. She is an excellent communicator and interviewer.
So pleased for Sarah Willis! She is the Berlin Phil’s greatest ambassador and an excellent musician! Congratulations!
the girl trumpet player Alison Balsom deserves MBE also.
She’s already got an OBE, a higher distinction than the MBE: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alison_Balsom