“We were honored to represent Tennessee Tech at such a prestigious international gathering of musicians and educators.” – Çakır Ramsey
(UCBJ) – Two faculty members in Tennessee Tech University’s School of Music recently represented the university on the international stage with a performance at the 58th International Horn Symposium in Kraków, Poland.
Gözde Çakır Ramsey, assistant professor of flute at Tech and principal flutist of the Tech-affiliated Bryan Symphony Orchestra, and Justin Stanley, assistant professor of horn and principal horn of the BSO, performed as the Center Hill Duo at the symposium.
The International Horn Symposium, held in July at the Krzysztof Penderecki Academy of Music, brought together horn performers, teachers, students, composers and scholars from around the world. This year marked the first time the symposium was held in Central Europe.
For Çakır Ramsey and Stanley, the performance marked their second consecutive appearance at the International Horn Symposium. The duo previously performed at the 57th International Horn Symposium in 2025 at James Madison University in Virginia.
“We were honored to represent Tennessee Tech at such a prestigious international gathering of musicians and educators,” Çakır Ramsey said. “Performing alongside artists and scholars from around the world provided an incredible opportunity to share our music, learn from our colleagues and build meaningful connections through music.”
As the Center Hill Duo, Çakır Ramsey and Stanley presented works by composers Katherine Hoover, Eric Ewazen and Georges Barboteu. The program highlighted the distinctive combination of flute and horn, an uncommon pairing in chamber music.
The contrasting timbres, projection and volume of the flute and horn present unique challenges for performers, requiring careful attention to balance and blend. The duo uses those differences to explore a broad range of sounds in its performances.
While in Kraków, the Center Hill Duo also collaborated with Olga Tsymbaluk, piano professor at the Krzysztof Penderecki Academy of Music. Tsymbaluk joined the duo for a performance, adding piano to the ensemble.
Despite having only 45 minutes to rehearse together, the musicians were able to prepare the full program and perform successfully, thanks in part to Tsymbaluk’s musicianship and collaborative approach.
The Kraków performance is only the latest artistic engagement for faculty in Tech’s School of Music, which presents more than 200 concerts and recitals each year and saw a nearly 72% enrollment increase between 2021 and 2025.
Audiences can next see Çakır Ramsey and Stanley perform at the Bryan Symphony Orchestra’s free outdoor community concert Sunday, Sept. 6, in Cookeville’s Dogwood Park. Family activities and vendor stations open at 5:30 p.m., and the concert performance begins at 7 p.m.
Learn more about the Tennessee Tech School of Music at www.tntech.edu/music.
Pictured above from l. to r.: Tennessee Tech Assistant Professor of Horn Justin Stanley and Assistant Professor of Flute Gözde Çakır Ramsey are pictured outside the Krzysztof Penderecki Academy of Music in Kraków, Poland, the site of the 58th International Horn Symposium.
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