Toni Meyer

Genghis Barbie

MUSE 250

Brass Artist Research Project

This all female French horn quartet that began in 2010, considers themselves the most
innovative and energizing chamber ensemble of its generation. The members of Genghis Barbie
(Freedom Barbie, Cosmic Barbie, Velvet Barbie and Attila the Horn) all vowed that every
performance will be distinctive, interactive, and personal.
The name Genghis Barbie came from, as member Danielle Kuhlmann (Velvet Barbie)
says, from one of her dads friends daughter who just learned about Genghis Kahn in school and
played with Barbie since she was about five years old. This little girl drew up a comic strip for
school called Genghis Barbie and Kuhlmann told all her friends that if she was to start a band she
would call it Genghis Barbie. When the group came up with the idea of the horn quartet they had
a couple of names, some that were slightly more inappropriate than others, so they just decided
to stick with Genghis Barbie.

Toni Meyer

Genghis Barbie

MUSE 250

Genghis Barbie was actually formed at one of the quartet members bachelorette party.
These women had already been friends and just happened to all do the same thing, play French
horn. At the time they were all freelancers, but the idea just popped into their heads to start a
horn quartet and play pop music that they loved.
Before the group was formed each individual had their own work that they were
previously devoted. Danielle Kuhlmann, aka Velvet Barbie, volunteered for the group Culture in
Harmony, a New York based NGO that promotes cultural diplomacy through music. Kuhlmann
also volunteered to teach music at the Afghanistan National Institute of Music. Rachel
Drehmann, aka Attila the Horn, performs a series of baroque horn concertos, Banda de Los
Muertos, the Chamber Orchestra of New York, and was also a member of the indie rock band A
Whisper In The Noise. Drehmann also performed, as a soloist, with the Brooklyn Sumphony
Orchestra, as well as the American Symphony Orchestra, Albany Symphony, Princeton
Symphony, Northeast Pennsylvania Philharmonic, The Knights, and Metropolis Ensemble and
numerous Broadway shows. Alana Vegter, aka Freedom Barbie, played with The Chamber Music
Society of Lincoln Center, The New York Philharmonic, The Orchestra of St. Lukes, The
Knights Chamber Orchestra, International Contemporary Ensemble, and City Music Cleveland.
Vegter has also performed in many orchestral and chamber music settings with the Spoleto
Festival USA, Pacific Music Festival, Chamber Music Northwest, Festspiele MecklenburgVorpommern, Bay Chamber Concerts, The Verbier Festival Orchestra, The Julliard Orchestra,
and The Aspen Music Festival. Then there is Leelanee Sterrett, aka Cosmic Barbie, who is third
horn in the New York Philharmonic, and is a member of the New Haven Symphony, La Crosse
and Fox Valley Symphony Orchestras.

Toni Meyer

Genghis Barbie

MUSE 250

Genghis Barbie performs arrangements of pop music from the 60s, 70s, 80s, 90s, 00s
and today, contemporary commissions, and classical works. This group takes pieces that they
enjoy and rearranges the song into a quartet that could be played by horns. Some of the time a
piece does not work out because it does not sound right between the four horns, but most of the
time the piece comes out pretty successfully. When rearranging the piece, the group tries and to
give each individual the parts of the song that they like the most, but if that cannot happen then
they usually get first choice on the next piece.
The group finds it absolutely important that people see something out of the box and
people doing something they love. The goal of the group is to inspire other people to find what
they love to do because that is why Genghis Barbie does what they do. They say, Its not
necessarily that what we are doing is unique or different, its that we care about what we do.
This is because Genghis Barbie likes to have fun with each performance and wants the audience
to react however they want to; they are going to continue to do what they do and have a good
time with it and hope that their audience does too.
Genghis Barbie just recently came out with a new CD making that a total of four in the
past couple of years. These recordings include Genghis Barbies Debut, Genghis BarbieHome for the Holidays, Genghis Barbie- Songs for Noa, and Genghis Barbie- Amp It Up!

Toni Meyer

Genghis Barbie

MUSE 250

Works Cited
Yeh, Molly. Q&A With Genghis Barbie. The Juilliard Journal. October (2012). Print.
Genghis Barbie. www.genghisbarbie.com. 2012. Web. 23 November 2014.