Biography
"Hailed as the Virtuoso Horn Duo, Kristina Mascher and Kerry Turner wowed the audience with their wonderful tonal qualities and highly accomplished, polished playing" - Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts Journal, Singapore
"Kristina Mascher and Kerry Turner are indeed virtuosos of the first rank." - Classical Music Guide, May 2007
The Virtuoso Horn Duo, Kerry Turner and Kristina Mascher-Turner, started performing together in 2002. These two highly accomplished horn players began studying, perfecting and performing the existing repertoire for two horns, putting a particular emphasis on the concertos with orchestra, such as Haydn, Vivaldi and Telemann. Shortly thereafter, Kristina and Kerry presented a recital and master class at the University of Prague and at further venues in Luxembourg. They traveled extensively, giving concerts to enthusiastic audiences in Valencia, Spain at the International Horn Society's Annual Workshop, the second Australian Brass Festival in Melbourne, Australia, at the Academy of Music in Singapore, and at the Festival of Nations in Rome. The VHD has also toured and offered master classes in the United States from coast to coast, often together with pianist Lauretta Bloomer and tuba virtuoso Kyle Turner. They have been featured guest artists at the second Hungarian Horn Festival in Mor as well as at the University of Cape Town in South Africa, the International Horn Symposium in Brisbane, and at the 2012 Brass Explosion in Singapore. Kerry and Kristina were artists in residence at the Beijing Conservatory as part of the second China Horn Festival. They appeared as soloists with the Richmond Symphony Orchestra and various orchestras in Europe. Their highly acclaimed recording of concertos for two horns and chamber orchestra appears on the MSR Classics label. Recent engagements include the Chintimini Chamber Music Festival, the Montreal Horn Festival, the 40th anniversary of the Association Française du Cor, and the En Cors et Encore Festival in Normandy, France.
The Virtuoso Horn Duo offers a program of highly melodic, sometimes traditional and often technically dazzling horn playing, combined with world class artistry and execution.
Kerry Turner is well acquainted with the international touring circuit. As a member of the world-renowned American Horn Quartet, Bronze Medalist at the Prague Spring International Music Competition, and member of the Luxembourg Philharmonic Orchestra, he has performed as soloist, chamber and orchestral musician all over the world. He has appeared as soloist with, among others, the Orchestra of Radio-Tele-Luxemburg, Saarbrucken Radio Orchestra, South-West German Philharmonie, Munich Bach Orchestra and Ensemble Modern of Frankfurt and the U.S. Air Force Band. With the AHQ he has performed with the Sinfonia Varsovia in Warsaw, the Royal Philharmonic of Stockholm, the Symphony Orchestra of Bordeaux, Beethovenhalle Orchestra Bonn, Moscow Radio Orchestra, Illinois Philharmonic and the Birmingham Symphony, just to name only a few. He has also recorded extensively. The Horn Call dubbed Kerry “a remarkable individual. Not only is his hornistry of world class level, but also his compositional skills are wonderful….a fantastic musician who just happens to play the horn”.
Kristina Mascher-Turner has been active as an orchestral horn player, chamber musician, soloist, and clinician in the culturally rich European music scene over the past 20 years. After receiving her Bachelor of Music Degree at the University of Wisconsin in Madison with Douglas Hill, she moved to Germany, where she continued her studies at the Hanns Eisler Conservatory in Berlin with Professor Kurt Palm, earning her Orchestral und Soloist diplomas. Ms. Mascher has also studied with Fergus McWilliam of the Berlin Philharmonic. Early in her career, Kristina was engaged as principal horn in various chamber orchestras in the United States and Berlin, Germany. Particularly noteworthy were a series of tours she performed as Principal Horn with the Gustav Mahler Youth Orchestra under the direction of Claudio Abbado, Pierre Boulez and Kent Nagano. In 1999, Kristina was engaged in the Odense Symfoniorkester in Denmark and six months later assumed the position of Principal Horn with the Brussels Philharmonic (Flemish Radio Orchestra) in Belgium (1999-2006), with whom she recorded and toured, and with whom she was featured in a special profile for Belgian television (VRT.) 2008-2009 interim 3rd horn and 2012-2017 interim 2./3./4. horn with the Orchestre Philharmonique du Luxembourg and 2010-2012 principal horn of the Orchestre de Chambre du Luxembourg, she is also a frequent guest with the Antwerp Philharmonic Orchestra, the Beethoven Orchester Bonn, the Liège Philharmonic, and the NDR Radiophilharmonie in Hannover. A passionate chamber musician, Kristina is also member of the Ni Ensemble of Luxembourg, who were first prizewinners in the 9th International Passau Competition. She has appeared as a guest artist with the American Horn Quartet in Slovakia, Spain, Australia, the United States, South Korea, and South Africa. Ms. Mascher has taught master classes in the US, Czech Republic, Singapore, South Africa, Hungary, the UK, and China, and has performed in over 30 countries on six continents. Kristina is currently Vice President of the International Horn Society and editor of the IHS Digital Newsletter, Horn and More.