This picture was taken in December, 2018, when I first met Stefan at CCOM, Beijing. He was at a masterclass with the horn students at CCOM. At that time, I was still a very young kiddo.
Of course, it’s very rare to have the great Berliner Philharmoniker in Beijing. Before this chance I only saw Stefan playing the amazing solos on tape. This time it was for real. I heard him play Richard Strauss’s Horn Concerto No.1 f2f. Probably the most charming sound from a horn player I’ve ever heard.
Apart from the splendid performance, I remember somebody asking a question specifically about how to play in a more emotionally expressive way. Guess what Stefan said? He said, “go find a girl friend.” Funny guy huh.
In fact, a year later when I met Sarah Willis, the low horn of BerlinPhil, I asked her the same question and she agreed with Stefan. Perhaps Berlin horn players think in the same way.
Lovely memories to recall.