Upcoming Events

Calgary Philharmonic Orchestra

As Principal Horn, Ms. LaBonte performes weekly with the CPO with repertoire ranging from standard symphonic repertoire to opera to new commissions and everything in between.

In addition to these peformances, Ms. LaBonte’s calendar also features the following events:

Palm Beach Opera: La Traviata
Feb
21
to Feb 23

Palm Beach Opera: La Traviata

From the Palm Beach Opera website: “Forbidden love faces societal pressures and heartbreaking sacrifices, all brought to life in a soaring operatic experience in Verdi’s La traviata. Sung in Italian with English supertitles projected.”

Ms. LaBonte will be performing as Guest Principal Horn during these performances.

View Event →

NYO-USA
Jul
22
to Jul 26

NYO-USA

Ms. LaBonte will be on faculty for this year’s NYO-USA. Carnegie Hall describes the program in the following way:

“Each summer, Carnegie Hall’s Weill Music Institute (WMI) brings together the brightest young players from across the country to form the National Youth Orchestra of the United States of America (NYO-USA), a free program for all participants. Following a comprehensive audition process and a multi-week training residency with leading professional orchestra musicians, these remarkable teenagers embark on a tour to some of the great music capitals of the world while serving as dynamic music ambassadors.

In summer 2024 the ensemble will gather from July 20 to August 15, and be joined by conductor Marin Alsop and pianist Jean-Yves Thibaudet on a tour of South America.”

View Event →
Music in the Mountains 2024 Festival
Jul
11
to Aug 4

Music in the Mountains 2024 Festival

Taking place in Durango, CO, this year’s Festival features a dynamic line-up of events, spanning genres and eras, with an amazing roster of soloists and guest artists joining our Festival Orchestra for four weeks of spectacular performances.

From returning familiar faces to all-new events like our Candlelight Chamber Concert to the return of our free community concert series on our mobile stage, each of this summer’s events will give audiences a memorable experience you’ll want to relive over and over again. We can’t wait to share each of these unforgettable events with you!

View Event →
Eastman Summer Horn Institute: Orchestral Audition Intensive
Jun
24
to Jun 28

Eastman Summer Horn Institute: Orchestral Audition Intensive

Hone your audition chops with a deep dive into horn orchestral excerpts. The Institute will include preparation of standard audition repertoire (both solo and sectional repertoire) for selected passages from horn 1, 2, 3, 4 and assistant parts, and will address score study, sonic modeling, practice strategies, and performance psychology. Each participant will receive 3 private lessons with the faculty, and daily group master classes and mock auditions, culminating with a “final round” of a solo (with piano accompaniment) and a rendition of selected excerpts of the participant’s choice. The Sibley Music Library will serve as an iconic resource to access contemporary and historical recordings of the works studied, as well as a vast repository of scores and complete parts.

View Event →
Kendall Betts Horn Camp
Jun
8
to Jun 23

Kendall Betts Horn Camp

This unique seminar and retreat offers an intense daily schedule, and the curriculum is tailored to the needs and goals of each individual participant. Schedule includes private lessons, master classes, horn ensembles, mock orchestral auditions, informal performances, and public concerts. A noncompetitive atmosphere of fun and camaraderie in the idyllic country setting of the White Mountains of New Hampshire.

Ms. LaBonte will be serving on the faculty Week 2 but will be performing administrative duties during Week 1.

View Event →
Dallas Chamber Symphony: Brahms Symphony No. 3
Apr
30

Dallas Chamber Symphony: Brahms Symphony No. 3

From the Dallas Chamber Symphony website: “Anton Nel, winner of the Naumburg International Piano Competition at Carnegie Hall, joins the orchestra in performance of two beautiful and dramatic works; Haydn’s Piano Concerto in D Major and Robert Schumann’s Introduction and Allegro. After intermission, maestro Richard McKay will conduct Brahms’ passionate and romantic Third Symphony.”

Ms. LaBonte will perform as Guest Principal Horn for this concert.

View Event →
Recital: University of Texas at Austin
Mar
25

Recital: University of Texas at Austin

On March 25 and 26, Ms. LaBonte will be in residence at UT Austin featuring a schedule of masterclasses, lessons, and a recital of works entirely by women composers in honor of Women’s History Month. Featuring Patti Wolf on piano and works by Dorothy Gates, Karen Tanaka, Britta Byström, Camille Pépin, and Edith Borroff. Admission to the recital is free and open to the public.

View Event →
Summer@Eastman Horn Institute
Jul
31
to Aug 4

Summer@Eastman Horn Institute

Faculty:
W. Peter Kurau, Professor of Horn, Eastman School of Music / Principal Horn, Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra
Nikolette LaBonte, Associate Principal/Assistant Principal/Utility Horn, Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra
Elizabeth Freimuth, Principal Horn, Cincinnati Symphony and Pops Orchestra.

Enhance your performance skills through FUNdamentals! Solidify your craft to liberate and express your artistry on the horn! This institute will include three private lessons (one with each faculty member) as well as a daily schedule of fundamental sessions, individual coaching on solo pieces, faculty presentations and performances, guest faculty workshops, horn ensemble rehearsals conducted by faculty, and evening sessions focusing on everything from solo repertoire to excerpts to etudes. All this work culminates in two performance opportunities at the end of the week, giving students a chance to perform with our esteemed institute pianists as well as showcase their horn ensemble work from the week!

View Event →
Music in the Mountains 2023 Festival
Jul
14
to Jul 30

Music in the Mountains 2023 Festival

Taking place in Durango, CO, this year’s Festival features a dynamic line-up of events, spanning genres and eras, with an amazing roster of soloists and guest artists joining our Festival Orchestra for four weeks of spectacular performances.

From returning familiar faces to all-new events like our Candlelight Chamber Concert to the return of our free community concert series on our mobile stage, each of this July’s events will give audiences a memorable experience you’ll want to relive over and over again. We can’t wait to share each of these unforgettable events with you

View Event →
NYO2
Jul
3
to Jul 7

NYO2

Outstanding young American instrumentalists form NYO2, a free orchestra program that comes together alongside the National Youth Orchestra of the United States of America (NYO-USA) and NYO Jazz each summer for intensive training and performance opportunities. NYO2 has a particular focus on recruiting musicians from communities underrepresented in classical music. Participating musicians have the opportunity to work closely with top players from American orchestras and conservatories during a residency at Purchase College, State University of New York.

In summer 2023, conductor Joseph Young leads the ensemble in its first-ever international residency and performances in the Dominican Republic with guest soloist Jennifer Koh.

View Event →
Kendall Betts Horn Camp
Jun
18
to Jun 25

Kendall Betts Horn Camp

Our mission at KBHC is to provide world-class instruction in all areas of the horn. Our curriculum affords campers the opportunity to immerse themselves in a variety of experiences. We offer sessions in warm-up, fundamentals, orchestral excerpts/auditioning, improvisation/creativity, ear training, natural horn, solo coaching, Alexander Technique, and yoga. In a given week, everyone will receive private lessons, a private Alexander Technique session, daily warm-up instruction, solo opportunities, horn choir, and the opportunity to perform on the final concerts. With our elective system, campers can tailor their experience to their desires. This ability to personalize the camp experience means that campers can attend again and again and create a brand new camp experience for themselves each time they return. Free time in the daily schedule gives campers the chance to enjoy each other’s company and to explore their surroundings. Leisure activities include, but are not limited to hiking, swimming, canoeing, fishing, mountain biking, and other outdoor sports. We encourage all campers to take full advantage of both the horn instruction and the leisure activities.

Ms. LaBonte will be on faculty for Week 2 this year and continues to serve as Assistant Artistic Director year-round!

View Event →
International Horn Symposium 54
Aug
1
to Aug 6

International Horn Symposium 54

Held this year at Texas A&M University in Kingsville, the International Horn Symposium is a yearly conference designed to showcase and present leading performers and teachers in the field. During this conference, Nikolette will present a lecture entitled “Borroff on Borroff” on August 4 at 3:30 where she will use Edith Borroff’s own musicological writings to analyze her Sonata for Horn and Piano (1954). She will also perform the first movement from Vitaly Buyanovsky’s Finnish Sonata on August 5 at 10:00am.

View Event →
Summer@Eastman French Horn Institute
Jun
27
to Jul 1

Summer@Eastman French Horn Institute

Enhance your performance skills through FUNdamentals! Solidify your craft to liberate and express your artistry on the horn! This institute will include private lessons as well as a daily schedule of fundamental sessions, individual coaching on solo pieces, faculty presentations and performances, guest faculty workshops, horn ensemble rehearsals conducted by faculty, and evening sessions focusing on everything from solo repertoire to excerpts to etudes. All this work culminates in two performance opportunities at the end of the week, giving students a chance to perform with our esteemed institute pianists as well as showcase their horn ensemble work from the week!

This institute’s focus on the fun and efficacy of fundamentals, and its many opportunities for performance, allows students the unique chance to see how their daily practice on basic skills on the horn can manifest in their performance of all repertoire and improve their ability to express themselves without impediment as artists.

View Event →
Kendall Betts Horn Camp
Jun
11
to Jun 26

Kendall Betts Horn Camp

Held annually for more than 25 years, the Kendall Betts Horn Camp will take place this year at the White Mountain School in New Hampshire. Featuring a faculty of the top players and teachers in the United States and beyond, KBHC provides a non-competitive atmosphere of fun and camaraderie that includes lessons, master classes, horn ensembles, mock orchestral auditions, and public concerts!

View Event →