What goes around comes around at Palatine High School.
The very first professional musician that band director Raeleen Horn invited to solo with her symphonic band returns tonight, some 23 years later, for an encore performance.
Dale Clevenger, the principal French horn player for the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, headlines tonight's band concert, which also features the concert band and percussion ensembles performing a program titled "Marches and Mozart."
Nearly 100 students in the symphonic band, meanwhile, will play the first two movements of Mozart's Horn Concerto No. 3, the Allegro and Rondo, with Clevenger as their guest artist.
The concert takes place at 7:30 p.m. in the school's Altergott Auditorium. Admission is $2.
Palatine students held their last rehearsal with Clevenger last week, and even the teenage band students were impressed with how they sounded.
"Just having someone of his caliber playing with us makes us play better," says junior clarinetist Justin Brauer of Palatine. "We seem to rise to the occasion."
Sophomore tuba player Christof Sheperd noted how Clevenger emphasized the dynamics of the piece, leading to a noticeable difference in its overall sound.
"He emphasizes cutting off and pulling out notes," Sheperd said, "which is completely different than how we had been playing it."
Junior tuba player Emily Nolan of Palatine concurred, adding that the band seemed to feed off Clevenger's professional approach to tackling the difficult piece.
"I think we always sound good," Nolan said, "but today, we were on top of our game."
Which is exactly what Horn had hoped for when she contacted Clevenger more than 20 years ago. His success with the band then les to many more guest soloists, as well as high visibility gigs over the years.
Most recently, the symphonic band performed in , the East Room of the Richard M. Nixon Library & Birthplace Foundation in Yorba Linda, Calif. But it also appeared in two major motion pictures, including "The Express," which came out last fall, and Clint Eastwood's "Flags of Our Fathers" in 2006.
Their soloists have ranged from Tage Larson, a trumpet player in the Chicago Symphony who played with them in 2003, to Wayne Messmer, who narrated Aaron Copland's "Lincoln Portrait" to the band's accompaniment in 2004.
"My philosophy is that students should have the opportunity to rub elbows and perform with to-notch musicians, as well as television and radio personalities," says Horn, now in her 29th year at Palatine.
"I enjoy the challenge of setting up these learning experiences for my band students," she adds. "My younger musicians get a broader view of how the pros handle rehearsal and performance situations, and, through it all, my hope is that they will acquire an even greater appreciation for the art of music performance."
Clevenger now is in his 43rd year as principal French horn player with the Chicago Symphony, but he also finds time to work with students and even conduct smaller orchestras in his spare time.
"I came right out of a situation like this, from City High School in Chattanooga," Clevenger said. "I will never forget the first visiting artist we had play with us. It blew me away how well he played."
Clevenger will arrive at tonight's concert straight from Carnegie Hall, where he played a pair of Concerts with the Chicago Symphony.
"You know how to get to Carnegie Hall, don't you?" he said to the band. "Practice, practice, practice."