My guest on Episode 24 is Brian KM, a composer and French-hornist living in Australia. He tours with a program he created which he calls a “show, not a recital” combining French horn with live electronics and incorporating classical music, daft-punk, poetry, and loop-making. Along the way, he also began researching the use of AI in relation to art and wrote an AI Code of Ethics for artists and creatives. We talk about it all in this fascinating conversation!
Topics in this episode include:
Playing French horn with live electronics
Combining classical music, daft-punk, poetry, and loop-making
"It's not a recital, it's a show!"
A business model of touring
Pitching shows and residencies
All the different aspects of knowledge and experience you can share
The need to regulate AI
AI Code of Ethics for Artists
Consumers should support artists that reflect their values
If we remain aware, we might be able to influence how AI is used
Melbourne based performer-composer Brian KM is a high octane horn soloist who is redefining what it means to attend a French horn recital.
His stunning multi-sensory shows for horn and live electronics transport audiences into other realms of listening. His raw musical energy, combined with a relentless and athletic approach to music have stunned audiences in Australia, The United States of America, and Canada.
He performs original works for horn and electronics in black boxes, recital halls, schools, and alternative venues. His innovative approach to musical storytelling, combined with a relentlessly athletic style of horn playing has resulted in multimedia performances that audiences members describe as "the most original they've ever seen".
Brian KM developed a taste for new music early in his career, performing with the EDGE New Music Ensemble at Shenandoah Conservatory during his early training. Since then, he has commissioned multiple new works for solo horn and various chamber groups and has served as principal horn for the world premiere of works for orchestra and band. A collaborator at heart, he often organizes performances with a connection to another art form, such as winemaking, brewing, or photography.
In addition to horn and electronics life, Brian KM has had a full career as a solo, chamber, and orchestral musician. He has served as principal horn in performances with the University of Maryland Symphony Orchestra, the University of Maryland Wind Orchestra, the Shenandoah Conservatory Symphony Orchestra, Shenandoah Summer Music Theater Company, the Plainville Wind Ensemble, the Rapidan Orchestra, the Miami Summer Music Festival Symphony Orchestra, and the Miami Summer Music Festival Opera Orchestra. In addition to those appointments, he has played a section horn player for the Hawaiʻi Symphony Orchestra and the Melbourne Opera.
After his collegiate training, Brian KM was appointed as the Principal Horn of the United States Navy’s “U.S. Pacific Fleet Band” in Pearl Harbor, Hawaiʻi. While serving in the Navy, he was a featured soloist and regular horn player for the organization’s premiere brass quintet, “Harbor Brass” and wind quintet, “Trade Winds”. During his service in the United States Navy, Brian completed multiple international and domestic tours, providing musical support for hundreds of diplomatic, military, and outreach events. He participated in the Oʻahu Joint Military Service Band Concert in 2019, serving as principal horn for military members in the Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps, Army, and National Guard. In 2018, he was selected to perform at the Midwest Band Conference as a member of a Navy-wide chamber ensemble. He received the National Medal of Arts “for personifying excellence in music and service to country”.
A fierce advocate for musical outreach in educational settings, Brian contributed hundreds of hours of volunteer teaching for local high schools during his military service. He served as the head of the U.S. Pacific Fleet Band’s Music Education Outreach Program and was the initiating agent for many key programs, including multiple joint programs with the University of Hawaiʻi Department of Music and the Navy’s first online outreach program during COVID-19. He remains committed to education and maintains an active horn studio and stays in touch with a network of band directors, providing educational outreach as a soloist when called. He is an active artistic director, currently serving as the director for the Melbourne Rainbow Band, Australia's premiere sexuality and gender diverse community band.
Brian received his undergraduate degree in Music Therapy along with a performance certificate from Shenandoah Conservatory and his Master’s Degree in Horn Performance from the University of Maryland. He maintains an MT-BC credential with the Certification Board for Music Therapists. His principal teachers have been Janelle Ellis, William Zsembery, Joseph Lovinsky, and Gregory Miller. His electronics teachers have been Alec Ness Heath Holme.
Website: www.briankm.com
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/imbriankm/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/imbriankm
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/imbriankm/
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCZcH6XSHMwtomzlm7tPBqCA
AI Code of Ethics: https://www.briankm.com/ai.html
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