Forbes Center for the Performing Arts
The Forbes Center for the Performing Arts is comprised of the Dorothy Thomasson Estes Center for Theatre and Dance and the Shirley Hanson Roberts Center for Music Performance and houses five state-of-the-art performance venues: the Mainstage Theatre (450 seats), the Concert Hall (600 seats), the Recital Hall (196 seats), the Studio Theatre (200 seats) and the Earlynn J. Miller Dance Theatre (200 seats). It also includes classroom, rehearsal and office facilities.
James Madison University
Founded in 1908, James Madison University is a public university located in Virginia’s Shenandoah Valley. JMU is fast becoming one of the nation’s leading lights in higher education because students enjoy unusually engaged relationships with world-class faculty who are here because they want to pursue knowledge and make teaching their No. 1 priority.
JMU School of Music
The JMU School of Music is located on the main quad of the University. This building will house spaces for lectures and presentations, exhibitor rooms, rehearsal spaces, and practice rooms for Symposium attendees.
Harrisonburg, Virginia
Nestled between the Blue Ridge and Allegheny Mountain ranges in the western part of Virginia, Harrisonburg is a breath of fresh air and a bit of a surprise to first-time visitors. The Shenandoah Valley is a wonderland of outdoor opportunity that needs to be seen to be appreciated. The same is true for Harrisonburg. A bustling downtown complete with restaurants, shops and culture. All within a short walk from campus.
Ian Zook
Ian Zook is an active orchestral and solo performer and has appeared in concerts throughout the United States, Europe, and Asia. He is the Professor of Horn at James Madison University, where he has led the horn studio since 2009. Mr. Zook's orchestral experience is extensive and has included positions with the Princeton and Haddonfield Symphony Orchestras, and frequent performances as a substitute musician with the Philadelphia Orchestra, the National Symphony, the Pennsylvania Ballet and the Harrisburg, Richmond, Roanoke, Delaware, and Vermont Symphonies.
He has also presented numerous solo performances and lectures at universities, including Penn State, University of Michigan, Curtis Institute of Music, Peabody Conservatory, Western Michigan University, UNC-Greensboro, Virginia Commonwealth University, and UNC – Chapel Hill, and many others. Very active in the International Horn Society, he has performed and presented at numerous International Symposia and the South East and North East Horn Workshops. Additionally, he also serves the editorial staff of the International Horn Society, writing the featured column “Horn on Record” for the monthly newsletter Horn & More.
Mr. Zook holds degrees from the University of North Carolina - Chapel Hill and the University of Michigan and attended the Verbier and Pacific Music Festivals, the National Orchestral Institute, Sarasota Music Festival, Aspen Music Festival, and the American Institute of Musical Studies in Graz, Austria.
JMU Horn Studio
The JMU Horn Studio consists of both undergraduate and graduate music majors in the School of Music at James Madison University in Harrisonburg, VA.
These students major in several different degree program ranging from Music Performance and Music Education to Music Composition and Music Industry.
All horn majors perform with the excellent large ensembles at JMU, the JMU Horn Choir, and several different chamber groups including horn quartets, horn trios, brass and woodwind quintets, and mixed chamber ensembles. The studio is also active off-campus with performances in the Harrisonburg community, and has attended annual Southeast and Northeast Horn Workshop of the International Horn Society since 2009, and the International Horn Symposium in Memphis, TN and Muncie, IN.