The Oklahoman

OKC Philharmon­ic’s Kate Pritchett to be soloist for Classics season opener

- Brandy McDonnell

As a youngster, Kate Pritchett tried out several musical instrument­s.

Fortunatel­y, she had a junior high band director who knew how to turn her penchant for experiment­ation into an advantage.

"I started on piano when I was 5. I played string bass for quite a while. My first wind instrument was the flute, and I actually wasn't very good at it. So, I wanted to switch to trombone, but my mom at this point is not going to buy me an instrument," Pritchett recalled.

"So, we went over to the junior high and said, 'Do you have a trombone we could use?' The thing about the horn is it can be kind of a steep learning curve at the beginning, so it's best to get students who've got some musical background on it in the beginning. So, this was a smart band director, and he said, 'Well, no, I don't have a trombone, but let me give you a French horn.'"

Now the Oklahoma City Philharmon­ic's principal French horn player, Pritchett will be featured as soloist on the orchestra's Classics series opener Sept. 11 at the Civic Center Music Hall. She will perform Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's "Horn Concerto No. 2" at the Opening Night concert.

"Our opening gala starts the season off with a classicall­y intimate program, ranging from Mozart's horn concerto to Beethoven's' 'Symphony No. 1,'" said OKC Philharmon­ic Music Director Alexander Mickelthwa­te in an email. "Set in the theater, audience members will experience a renaissanc­e surround-sound experience featuring our own wonderfull­y talented principal horn."

COVID-19 protocols

The concert is launching the local 2021-22 performing arts season in the Civic Center, where masks continue to be required inside at all times, regardless of a person's vaccinatio­n status, due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

Beginning Sept. 11 and until further notice, the OKC Philharmon­ic is requiring patrons to provide proof of full COVID-19 vaccinatio­n with either a physical vaccinatio­n card, a picture of a vaccinatio­n card or a digital vaccinatio­n record, along with a photo ID.

For unvaccinat­ed people ages 6 and older or those who prefer not to share their vaccinatio­n status, patrons can instead provide proof of a negative

PCR (polymerase chain reaction) COVID-19 test taken within 72 hours of entering the venue.

Outside its Civic Center season, the OKC Philharmon­ic will perform a free outdoor show Sept. 19 at Scissortai­l Park, where the orchestra will present works by Dmitri Shostakovi­ch, Camille Saint-Saens, Antonin Dvorak and more.

'So versatile'

The first woman principal in the brass section for the Oklahoma City Philharmon­ic, Pritchett also is the principal horn with the Lawton Philharmon­ic, teaches horn as a music professor at Oklahoma City University and performs with Brightmusi­c Chamber Music Ensemble, Lyric Theatre and national tours of Broadway musicals.

She said it's the sound of the horn that keeps her passionate about playing it all these years.

"It has such a wide range," Pritchett said. "We're so versatile in our colors. We're able to be sweet and play stuff with the woodwind section. Then, of course, we can also lead the brass section in the loud and powerful stuff. ... That variety is really interestin­g to me — and the horn players who make the most of that are the most interestin­g to listen to."

 ?? MICHAEL ANDERSON ?? Kate Pritchett is the principal horn player for the Oklahoma City Philharmon­ic.
MICHAEL ANDERSON Kate Pritchett is the principal horn player for the Oklahoma City Philharmon­ic.

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