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IN CONVERSATION - KHYE CASH
a2. orchestra director Aiden Labuchange sat down with our French horn soloist Khye Cash, who will be performing at our next concert “Sanctity”. They spoke about the logistics of playing the French horn, and discussed the pieces in the upcoming concert.
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The first thing that Aiden wanted to know, was how did Khye first become interested in playing the French horn and what exactly drew him to it as his instrument of choice? Khye said, “I first became interested in the French horn when I was coming to the end of my time in primary school. While we were all in class, my music teacher at the time was showing us the many different instruments of the orchestra and what they sounded like. Once my teacher pulled up the photo of the French horn, I was instantly hooked and knew that it was the instrument for me”.
Next Aiden enquired about Khye’s practise routine, and how he prepares for a performance. Khye responded, “as a student with many obligations and commitments, my practice routine heavily revolves around a lot of factors. Whilst there are many days where I am very busy and don’t have as much time as I would like, I always try to aim for consistent practice. Preparing for a performance as a French horn player is mostly about knowing when to come in and being able to count bars of rest accurately”.
Following on from practise routines, Aiden asked if there any specific challenges or difficulties that Khye encounters when playing the Horn, and if so how does he work to overcome them? Khye mentioned that, “a challenge for me as a French horn player would be consistency across all ranges of the instrument. The French horn has such a large range of notes and styles that it is required to play, and being able to consistently understand your role within the work of music you’re playing is part of the challenge, just like any other musician within the ensemble”.
Khye Cash playing Horn at our previous concert, Canvas. Photo taken by James Trimble
Moving on from this, the next question Aiden asked was if Khye could please discuss the importance of collaboration and communication between a soloist and a chamber orchestra during a performance, and how one works to establish a good rapport with the musicians one is performing with? Khye said, “for me, chamber music is crucial to any musicians development because being able to perform in such an intimate ensemble and listen to each other so closely is very beneficial when translated into bigger ensembles, such as a symphony orchestra. This type of playing is so much more important when soloists are introduced, because being able to listen out for certain parts that aren’t your own really helps with keeping ensembles together”.
And lastly, Aiden enquired about the pieces in our upcoming concert. He wanted to know what draws Khye to any of the works that he will be performing, and what he likes about it. Khye responded, “I really like concertos for double horn. When I found the Rosetti double horn pieces early last year I really wanted to perform them at some stage, and to play alongside one of my good friends Jacob is such a fun project for the both of us. The Gounod Six Melodie’s are also super fun to play, and to have a chamber orchestra performing with me is such a privilege”.
We absolutely look forward to working with Khye for our next concert “Sanctity” on September 16th. If you’d like to see Khye perform, tickets are available HERE
Khye Cash performing at sanctity