Zora Stewart ’19 and Harrison Ringel ’19 initially bonded over their mutual love for playing the French horn. After three years of playing together, they decided to host a joint Senior Recital.
After briefly locking eyes, Harrison Ringel ’19 and fellow performer Zora Stewart ’19 launched into a rendition of C.T. Henning’s “Sixty French Horn Duets, No. 28.” Long, drawn-out notes contributed to the base of the song as shorter, lower notes tiptoed above.
This song was one of seven performed by the duo this past Sunday in the Timken Room. The performance was the Senior recital for the two french horn players.
Stewart said, “I’ve been playing since the fifth grade. Since I’m about to leave Andover, I thought this would be a good way to showcase some of the stuff that I’ve been working on since I spend so much time playing horn.”
Ringel, meanwhile, enjoys the the closeness that comes from performing for a small group of people.
“It’s always been interesting to perform, not at one of those larger events, but somewhere more intimate,” he said.
Audience member Cameron Kang ’21 commented on the unique nature of the performance.
“It was interesting to see them both plays solos but also play together because I don’t think that I’ve ever seen a french horn duet. So I thought that was interesting and not something you really see often.”
Stewart and Ringel’s decision to perform together stemmed from both practical and personal reasons.
“French horn is an instrument that you can’t really play for a very long time… it’s a really tiring instrument. Harrison and I have been playing together for the last three years, and we really bonded over our french horn playing, so we just thought that it would be a fun thing to do together as Seniors,” said Stewart.
Ringel added, “I decided to perform with Zora because we played together for three years, she’s become a big part of my horn family. We’re really good friends. I also didn’t really want to learn that much repertoire by myself, so it was nice being able to learn it with her.”
Ringel also expressed appreciation for the opportunity to perform with Stewart.
“In any performance, you get to know a lot about someone, and really reading them. Kind of ‘vibing’ with them and being on the same wavelength. So that was really fun,” said Ringel.
