Miller Aud-cast #33: Janet Horvath

Hello and welcome to Aud-cast #33, I am Marc McKee, managing editor of the Missouri Review and it’s a 1000 o’clock and ten pineapples on the internet. It’s my pleasure in whatever moment this is to introduce the latest Audio Documentary finalist for the 2021 Miller Audio Prize, Janet Horvath, with her piece “A Musician Who Can’t Tolerate Sound.” Janet Horvath, is a lifelong performing classical musician, soloist, author, speaker, and educator. The Minnesota Orchestra’s associate principal cello from 1980 to 2012, she has appeared as soloist with orchestra, and in recital and chamber music throughout the United States, Canada, and Europe. The author of the award-winning book Playing (Less) Hurt—an Injury Prevention Guide for Musicians, she has worked with instrumentalists to establish a holistic approach: to play with ease and eloquence, while preserving good posture and maintaining comfort. A pioneer and authority in the area of the medical problems of performing artists and a passionate arts advocate, Janet’s masterclasses and seminars are well-regarded by both amateur and professional musicians, teachers and students, and health care providers. Presentations include for the San Francisco Symphony, Utah Symphony, Indianapolis Symphony, Boston Symphony Orchestra, and at colleges, conservatories, and conferences from coast to coast. She has appeared on the BBC, CBC, and NPR national radio stations and television. Her Tiny Love Story appeared in the New York Times, May 2021 and she is an audio-documentary finalist for the 2021 Miller Audio Contest hosted by the Missouri Review. Recent essays include A Musician Afraid of Sound published in The Atlantic, October 2015, and in national and international music publications—Musical America, Chamber Music America, Strings Magazine, The Brass Herald, and Strad Magazine among others. A contributing writer for the online classical music e-magazine Interlude.HK , she has penned over 300 feature articles about music and musicians. Through her writing and musical performances, Janet creates restorative conversations, offers spiritual sustenance, and explores music’s life-bringing and healing power. She is currently at work on a memoir to those same ends. She earned her master’s degree in music performance from Indiana University studying with Janos Starker and completed her MFA in creative writing from Hamline University St Paul, Minnesota. Make sure to stick around after Horvath’s powerful work of memory to hear contest editor Bailey Boyd and I ruminate and exclaim over it in wonder. Thanks as always to the Missouri Review contest editor, Bailey Boyd, and to Patricia Miller, for her generous support for the Miller Audio Prize. Just as a reminder, TMR is open for submissions year-round, and we remain dedicated to discovering and publishing the best contemporary writing in fiction, nonfiction and poetry. Be heard. Give us the opportunity to discover you: subscribe or submit your work today! In addition, we have tons of exhilarating (and free!) creative content to read, listen to, and even watch on our website. Learn more at missourireview.com.