Troy Community Band features St. Louis Symphony musician for Holiday Concert
by Josh Jones
Times Tribune Editor
TROY — The splendid sounds of holidays only comes once a year and again the Troy Community Band, along with special guest performers, plan to deliver a free holiday concert for all to enjoy.
The Troy Community Band and its director, John Malvin, are pleased to announce that this year’s holiday concert will feature Thomas Jӧstlein, Associate Principal Horn player for the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra (SLSO), and his son Klaus, playing French Horn, Jazz Violin, and Alphorn. The concert will be held at 7 p.m. Dec. 2 inside the Triad High School Cafetorium, which is located at 703 East U.S. Highway 40 in Troy.
According to information provided, Thomas Jӧstlein has been with the SLSO since 2010. Prior to that, he was Assistant Principal Horn with the New York Philharmonic Orchestra. He has also taught for a variety of American universities and won top honors in major American horn competitions. In other notable activity, Jӧstlein has participated in multiple recordings, including one with singer Tony Bennett, and is proficient on a variety of instruments, including the alpine horn. (The alpine horn is the several-yards-long wooden Swiss horn traditionally used for communicating long distances in the Alps.) Malvin said that for the past five years they have hosted someone either in the SLSO or connected to it.
For the community band’s concert, Jӧstlein and his son Klaus (who is a violinist with the SLSO’s Youth Orchestra) will perform an arrangement of “Deck the Horn” for horn and jazz violin. The piece, which has four variations, has been arranged by noted composer and Troy Community Band member Mark J. Connor of Glen Carbon. In addition, the two Jӧstleins will perform an arrangement of “Amazing Grace” written for alpine horn and violin.
“He is playing a special arrangement that is arranged as a duet for him and his son, who is playing jazz violin. Then he is playing a second piece “Amazing Grace”, which certainly everyone has heard, but he is playing it on a alpine horn… and he and his son are going to do a duet.”
Malvin said that the Troy Community Band is excited for the event and hopes they have a great audience turnout. He thanked everyone involved who is helping making this year’s concert possible.
“We are grateful to Triad High School for giving us the facility to practice and the facility for the concert,” Malvin said.
Troy Community Band concerts are free and open to the public. Donations are greatly appreciated. For more information, donating or to find out about joining people may visit sites.google.com/site/troycommunityband or the “Troy Community Band” Facebook page.
