ESSEX — What keeps Ann Ellsworth sane could take others over the edge.
A wife and mother who homeschools her children, she dashes off to teach once a week at Stony Brook University and New York University. She is the solo horn player for the Grammy-nominated Absolute Ensemble and has been a member of the Esbjerg Ensemble, Manhattan Brass, Baltimore Opera, Phoenix Symphony and Philharmonica del Bajio.
In an already taxing schedule, she added "Two Horns and a Quartet," a mini tour featuring Ellsworth, Rachel Drehmann (they're the horns) and the Osso String Quartet.
"It was my idea," said Ellsworth, while boarding a bus somewhere in New York City.
There is a dearth of high-horn players for two-horn concerti by early Baroque composers, so she recruited her former student and friend Rachel Drehmann, a founding member of Genghis Barbie with Danielle Kuhlmann, Jacquelyn Adams and Alana Vegter. Their stage names, not necessarily in order are, Freedom Barbie, Velvet Barbie, Jungle Barbie and Attila the Horn.
"Rachel is working with this horn maker, Zieter Otto, in Germany," Ellsworth said. "She said he would make her one. We tried a couple of different ones in late October, early November. We found one that really works. It's such a cool sound."
High soprano horns are not that common. Ellsworth's is one of eight of a kind.
"It's really a specialty. It's so small you can't put your hand in the bell. It has a very light sound. The bell is 9 inches in diameter. The regular horn is 11 inches. We made them so they match each other."
Both Ellsworth and Drehmann are piqued by crossover music as well as the more classical fare. In 2007, they worked on a project with a Jamaican rap artist.
"It was great," Ellsworth said. "He was really talented. We did four horns, bass and violin. Rachel wrote the stuff for the horn players. She can play really high. It's not something everyone can do. Not everyone likes to play high. I do, and she does."
Their rare sound joined by the Osso String Quartet can be heard at "Two Horns and a Quartet" Saturday afternoon at the Essex Community Church.
The program opens with "Concerto in D Major" by Johann Fasch and "Concerto in F Major" by Johann David Heinichin. The concerti were transcribed for sextet by composer Dakota Wayne. The second half of the program features Beethoven's sextet for two horns and strings in Eb Major.
"We got all this from the Dresden library," Ellsworth said. "We were practicing off these very old, very thick manuscripts written with quill pen. We found a guy who put it in Sibelius Computer Program and printed it out for us. We've been rehearsing down here. It sounds really great. We're really excited to do it. There's quite a bit of this music for two horns, not for one. That's why Rachel jumped on board. It has opened up a whole new thing for me."
In the past, Ellsworth performed solo.
The Beethoven sextet is a standard piece for horn.
"It's not often played, but it is something you can buy at the music store," Ellsworth said.
Performing the works are a natural high.
"It feels like you're flying, playing that high," Ellsworth said. "One part in the second movement of Fasch has Jacob's ladder where the horn keeps going higher and higher. It's a sequence. It goes higher and higher. You can't believe it. It keeps going. The second horn is a third below it."
She and Drehmann have pondered how to get out of the concert alive.
"We flop movements," Ellsworth said. "To do it live, straight through, would be really taxing. We switch out. It seems to be working really well coming from a practical consideration."
"Two Horns and a Quartet" promises feel-good baroque music.
"It's not as intense as Bach," Ellsworth said. "It's really joyful. It's just really fun. We open with the Fasch. Then play a short piece by Georg Christoph Wagenseil."
The second half has a little surprise, way super funky and rocking.
"We can certainly interact with the audience," Ellsworth said. "We hope it's always a good idea."
Email Robin Caudell at: rcaudell@pressrepublican.com
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