Eric
Terwilliger

French horn

Here you can find out how I have managed to remain a successful horn player, despite having had a crisis that almost ended my career.

In 1983 I had been principal horn of the Munich Philharmonic for eight seasons, had won prizes in international competitions as a soloist and was a member of the chamber ensemble “Münchner Philharmonischen Solisten”. In June of that year a careless dentist damaged a nerve during a wisdom tooth extraction and I lost control of one quarter of my embouchure. Not only did the left half of my lower lip lose all feeling, I could not seal off the left corner of my mouth. It was not possible to play a single note! After six months of lymph drainage massages, the damaged nerve had regenerated enough to enable me to at least seal off the left corner and direct an air stream through the middle of my lips. Though I did not, and still do not have feeling in the left side of my lower lip, I resumed my career and have since played with some of the finest orchestras in the world.

Fortunately, I had a firm concept of how to play my instrument when the dental accident took place. Equally important, I was a trained yoga teacher and had practiced Alexander Technique for five years. Combining these elements I developed a technique of relaxation, concentration and postural integration to not only compensate for my damaged embouchure but also rediscover the joy of making music. Indeed, I am the only person to have ever played in Carnegie Hall and the Musikverein in Vienna as first horn with the Vienna Philharmonic, the Berlin Philharmonic, the Munich Philharmonic and the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra under the batons of Claudio Abbado, Sergiu Celibidache, Lorin Maazel, Maris Jansons, Christian Thielemann, and Sir Simon Rattle.

Music students and professionals on six continents have worked with me to apply these principles and improve their playing. Overcoming my dental disaster has also given me the experience to help other musicians recover after suffering similar crises.

The German orchestral and University system has a mandatory retirement age. I officially retired from the BRSO and the Munich Hochschule in November 2019.

I continued playing as a soloist, chamber musician, as substitute principle horn with the Berlin Philharmonic and gave international master classes as well as being a member of adjudication boards.

When the global Covid - 19 pandemic started, I had just started a farewell tour that was projected to take me to four continents playing the second Strauss horn concerto and the first concerto of J. Haydn with various orchestras.
I managed to play the Strauss seven times and the Haydn twice before the world came to a screeching halt.

I fortunately did not know that my last public performances as a classical musician were to be be on 30-31 January 2020. With my dear friend Simon Rattle next to me, I played the second Strauss concerto with the BRSO in the Herkulessaal in Munich. I had played my debut as principle horn with the Munich Philharmonic in the same hall in 1976. The second symphony of Anton Bruckner with Wolfgang Sawallisch was on the program. The circle was closed.

I have now changed my focus from classical music to jazz. Instead of playing a recital when I give master classes, I play and sing with various trios. A short clip of Angel Eyes from a club in Santiago de Compostela, Spain is below.

If you need any information about how to register for courses, private lessons, or bookings with a jazz trio please feel free to contact me from this website.