About
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Andrew M. McAfee Horn Instructor: University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Principal Horn: North Carolina Symphony (1992-2007) Music Director/Conductor: Triangle Youth Ballet
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After playing Principal Horn with the North Carolina Symphony for 15 years (1992-2007), Andrew McAfee now focuses on mentoring through teaching horn at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (UNC) and conducting as the Music Director/Conductor of the Triangle Youth Ballet (www.triangleyouthballet.org) and the Masterworks Reading Orchestra (www.masterworksro.com).
Brought up in a musical family, Andrew became Principal Horn of the Merced (CA) Symphony by 15 and made his solo debut with them playing Weber’s Concertino in E at 17. He received a music scholarship to play with the “President’s” Wind Quintet and to study with Dr. James H. Winter at California State University, Fresno. The quintet performed in Europe and Taiwan, and won awards at the Coleman Competition and at the Carmel Music Festival. During that time, he also studied with David Krehbiel (San Francisco Symphony Principal Horn) and performed and toured with the San Francisco Symphony Youth Orchestra in Europe. Upon Dr. Winter’s retirement, Andrew completed his Bachelor of Music in Performance at Northwestern University, where he studied conducting with John P. Paynter and horn with Dale Clevenger, Norman Schweikert and other members of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. He has performed with the Chicago Symphony, Civic Orchestra of Chicago, Sante Fe Opera, St. Louis Symphony and Chautauqua Symphony Orchestras. He has won national auditions and held positions with the Fresno Philharmonic, Honolulu, Columbus, New Mexico and North Carolina Symphony Orchestras.
Andrew has also been a guest soloist, clinician and exhibitor at the Northeast and Southeast Horn Workshops, has been featured with numerous chamber ensembles including the Degas Quartet, Ciompi Quartet, Malarme Chamber Players, Symphony Winds (school educational programs), and performs regularly with the Carolina Wind Quintet (UNC Faculty). Other solo appearances have included the Richard Strauss Concerto No. 1 and the Hubler Concertstuck for Four Horns with the North Carolina Symphony, Schumann’s Concertstuck for Four Horns with the Longview (TX) Symphony, the Saint-Saëns Concertpiece with the Enloe Wind Ensemble, Mozart’s Horn Concerto No. 1 with the Raleigh Mozart Festival Orchestra, the Britten Serenade for Tenor, Horn and Strings with the Salisbury (NC) Symphony, and again in April 2011 with the UNC Symphony Orchestra and MET tenor Anthony Dean Griffey.
Andrew studied conducting for 9 summers with Maestro Harold Farberman at the Conductor’s Institute at the Hartt School in Connecticut, twice in Bulgaria (with the Varna Philharmonic), and at Bard College in New York. He completed his Master of Music in Orchestral Conducting in May 2009 with Maestro Ransom Wilson at the University of North Carolina School of the Arts. As Music Director/Conductor of the Triangle Youth Ballet in Chapel Hill, Andrew has conducted full orchestral productions of Tchaikovsky’s The Nutcracker since December 2008 and Sleeping Beauty in May 2008 and March 2009. He was a finalist for the Charlotte Symphony Resident Conductor position and the Durham Symphony Music Director position with whom he conducted the 2008 Durham Symphony Pops summer series. He has been Music Director/Conductor of the Triangle Youth Orchestra (four years), twice the interim Music Director of the Chapel Hill Philharmonia (2001 and 2007) and conducted the world premiere performance of Symphony No. 1 by Ari Picker in 2008.
The May 2011 edition of The Horn Call, the Journal of the International Horn Society, featured his article “Five Basics for a Horn Embouchure.” His method book titled “The Horn Book, Fundamental and Advanced Techniques for Horn Players” is now in its 6th edition. His website, www.hornlessons.org features his CD “A Passionate Horn,” videos, and other helpful information on horn playing technique and on NOHAC, the National Orchestral Horn Audition Competition that he hosts at UNC.