The horn, the tree, the dog and the others

The Almond Tree in Blossom, an oil on canvas painted in 1890 inspired by Japanese woodcut, was one of Van Gogh's favorites and is also the favorite of Marisol López, cornist at Filarmed. And the flowering branches against a blue sky are the objects that she admires most in this work of art. Like his neighbors in the San Javier neighborhood, a group of trees—which he can see right in front of his house—visited by woodpeckers that frequently drill their stems.

The cornista deeply loves nature, because it inspires her, especially the trees, which give her shade and oxygen. She says: “I am amazed by what I see in everyday life, I like to paint landscapes, take photos of clouds, of the dogs or cats that I find in my path, of the flowers.”

Marisol is a thoughtful woman, who expresses gratitude to her family, especially her mother, because she has always supported her in her career as a musician. Passionate about her instrument, her pets and especially about photography, she dreams of having a home for animals. He began his musical life with lyrical singing, with a few semesters in high school. He then went on to study the horn professionally, because his family, classmates and professors at the University told him that this instrument suited him well and he had the talent to play it.

She participated in the orchestra in 2009, as a guest musician, with Tchaikovsky's Symphony No. 6 “Pathétique” and Grieg's Piano Concerto under the direction of the Russian maestro Guerassim Voronkov. In addition, he was part of other productions for large orchestra: Mahler, Strauss and Holst, “Composers who created large-format works, which require six cornists and even more in a row!”, expresses Marisol with emotion. That same year, with the Seresta philharmonic fusion concert, she debuted as a Filarmed staff musician.

The instrumentalist also loves her pets; the cat Tito and his dogs Lucas and Fruna. “I adopted Fruna in particular in Fredonia when I accompanied the orchestra on a tour of the southwest, it was love at first sight! Even my classmates encouraged me to adopt her. I received her with love and even with fear, because I didn't know how they were going to welcome her at home; “Some musicians nicknamed her the Filarmed mascot,” said the musician.

Marisol is one of the few women in Colombia who plays horn in a professional orchestra. She was assigned to it by pure coincidence when she was in the Medellín Music School Network at the age of 17. He liked it because it seemed like a strange instrument, its shape, its shine, because it was a different instrument.

“You can find music in everything, even in nature, in the singing of birds, the movement of trees, the sound of the wind, a river.”

About the instrument

The French horn or French horn is a metal wind instrument with a conical mouthpiece, very versatile, since its tessitura has a wide variety of musical notes since its cylinders allow it to produce various types of sounds that range from the lowest to the highest. .