Eric Terwilliger

In 1983 I was principal horn of the Munich Philharmonic for eight seasons, had won prizes in international competitions as a soloist and was a member of the chamber ensemble Munchner Philharmonischen Solisten. In June of that year, a careless dentist damaged a nerve during a wisdom tooth extraction and I lost control of a quarter of my embouchure. Not only did the left half of my lower lip lose all feeling, I couldn't seal the left corner of my mouth. It was not possible to play a single note! After six months of lymphatic drainage massage, the damaged nerve had regenerated enough to allow me to at least seal the left corner and direct a stream of air through half of my lips. Although I didn't, and still have no feeling on the left side of my lower lip, I resumed my career and have since played with some of the best orchestras in the world.

Fortunately, I had a firm concept of how to play my instrument when the dental accident occurred. Equally important, I was a trained yoga teacher and had been practicing the Alexander Technique for five years. Combining these elements I developed a relaxation, concentration and postural integration technique to not only compensate for my damaged embouchure but also rediscover the joy of making music. In fact, I am the only person who has played at Carnegie Hall and the Vienna Musikverein as first horn with the Vienna Philharmonic, the Berlin Philharmonic, the Munich Philharmonic and the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra under the baton of Claudio Abbado, Sergiu Celibidache, Lorin Maazel, Maris Jansons, Christian Thielemann and Sir Simon Rattle.

Music students and professionals on six continents have worked with me to apply these principles and improve their performance. Getting over my dental disaster has also given me the experience to help other musicians get back on their feet after similar crises.