For information on Dr. Ambrose’s community engagement research, please click here.
Using Popular Music to Build Better Horn Sections
presentation at the iowa music educators association professional development conference, november 2021
This session presents exercises based on popular music that are geared toward young and intermediate horn players. The first few years is an especially difficult period of development for horn players; the inherent challenges of the instrument can hinder the ability to develop range and accuracy. The risk of attrition compounds when their peers play more melodic music on instruments which are more culturally visible and whose missed notes are less embarrassingly noticeable. By giving young players the opportunity to engage on the horn with popular music, these students can begin to cultivate their confidence on the instrument.
Link to handouts: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/12LI24Ufxyy5-BQ1U0rh3j2G3r4FTxK1P?usp=sharing
William Lee and George Washington
Article and video produced for the International Horn Society’s The Horn Call, February 2021
Meet Katy Ambrose, the author of "Unlocking the Past: William Lee and The Rodenbostel Horn at Mount Vernon" in the February 2021 issue of The Horn Call.
A Dissonant History: The French Horn as a Marker of Oppression and Freedom in the Lives of African American Musicians
A monograph submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Degree Doctor of Musical Arts
Temple University, May 2020
Dr. Ambrose’s doctoral research delves into the connection between American horn players of African and Creole descent, and the use of the horn as a symbol of oppression and freedom. This work includes a look at how the horn was utilized in the lives of enslaved persons, the role it played in the advent of the Black brass band tradition during and after the War of 1812, its use in minstrel bands and offshoots during the Postbellum period, and accounts of jazz horn players and racist audition practices of the early- to mid-20th century.
Dr. Ambrose is available for online presentations based on this research. To inquire, please use the Contact Form.
Julius Watkins and Willie Ruff: Black Horn Players and Pioneers in Jazz
Lecture at the Southeast Horn Workshop, James Madison University, March 2017
Julius Watkins and Willie Ruff were/are two of the most under-appreciated musicians in their respective times. Both were/are phenomenal musicians who performed in the genres allowed to them based on their race. This lecture focuses on Julius Watkins, but briefly addresses Willie Ruff's significant contribution to the jazz horn world, and his influence on several generations of horn players. Jazz was the primary path available to African American musicians in the 1950s, 60s, and 70s and bebop was the right style of jazz for someone looking for solo opportunities. The fact that bebop’s speed and dense texture present a special challenge for the horn with its soft timbre, rotary valves, and close partials, only underscores Watkins’ great skill. In comparing his “Friday the 13th” solo to Dennis Brain’s Mozart K. 495 cadenza it is easy to see that Watkins was a horn player on par with the world’s most talented hornists of his age.
Dr. Ambrose is available for online presentations based on this research. To inquire, please use the Contact Form.