The big, bold voice of the French horn inspired Matthew Meadows. Now his passion for mastering the instrument has brought him recognition in international competition.
When he was in seventh grade in Jasper, Meadows saw an opportunity for a bargain in his school band. He came away with much more — a life-defining and award-winning passion for playing the French horn.
“I actually started on trumpet, and then after the Christmas concert of my seventh- grade year, my teacher asked if anyone wanted to try the French horn,” Meadows said. “I decided to try it because it looked cool, and the school owned one so I wouldn’t have to rent an instrument. And I fell in love with it.”
Meadows, now a UA first-year graduate student, won second prize in the university division of the International Horn Competition of America in September in Fort Collins, Colorado. He rose above more than 100 other musicians competing at his level to make the final four. And he did it playing an instrument whose sound inspires him.
“What I love about the horn is the sound,” said Meadows, who earned his bachelor’s degree at UA in music education. “When you’re growing up and you hear movie scores, the horn parts sound so big, majestic and bold. It’s the coolest thing ever.”
The competition has three rounds judged by some of the best horn teachers on the collegiate level, Meadows said. During the final round, he performed Richard Strauss’ first horn concerto, which led him to his second-place finish and some valuable feedback from the judges. You can view Meadows’ performance at the 50-minute mark in this video.
“I’m always trying to learn new things,” he said. “If I’m not trying to learn new things I’m probably not trying to get better. The comments, I thought, were all super-constructive and very helpful. People come from different methods and different styles, different philosophies. Some of the comments I already had identified after the performance. I always want my next performance to be better, and the comments showed that the judges had noticed those things that I can work on even more and do better on in the future.”
The international competition, drawing both student and professional musicians from a number of countries, is also a great opportunity for horn-networking.
“That was the first time I had gotten to go,” he said. “All the rounds are open to the public. You do get to meet a lot of horn players. If you want to go up and talk to people you can. I try my best to meet as many people as I can. It’s great to meet new faces.”
Before UA, Meadows performed in his school marching and concert bands in Jasper and took some lessons to prepare for All-State competitions. At UA, he’s the principal horn in the Alabama Wind Ensemble and also plays in the Alabama Horn Choir, Brass Choir and Graduate Brass Quintet. He also marched in the Million Dollar Band for five years during his undergraduate years and was the mellophone section leader for four of those years.
He has studied with Professor Charles “Skip” Snead, director of the UA School of Music, and Joshua Williams, a UA doctoral student who won the professional competition at Fort Collins in 2017. He said both Snead and Williams have helped him strive to be a better musician. So, he opted to return to UA for his master’s.
“The performing side of it was such a fun part of my undergraduate degree,” Meadows said. “Skip is such a great teacher, so I wanted to stay and work with him on an even deeper level. He’s incredible. We’re very fortunate to be in a studio like this with such a high-quality teacher and a high-quality standard, which helps us be competitive in the professional world.”