On April 19th, I performed with Dark in the Song, a contemporary bassoon collective, as part of the Watson Chamber Music Series at UNCSA. Works by Frank Zappa, Jacob Ter Veldhuis and premieres of works commissioned by Dark in the Song by Chris Dietz, Amy Beth Kirsten, Moon Young Ha and Zhou Juan.

Watch video of the performance.

Contemporary bassoon collective, Dark in the Song will perform this Tuesday, April 19th at Watson Recital Hall on the UNCSA campus at 7:30pm. Music by Jacob Ter Veldhuis, Michael Torke, David Smooke, and 3 world premieres by Christopher Dietz, Moon Young Ha, and Amy Beth Kirsten.

Adventurous new music for bassoon ensemble. Called a “bassoon supergroup” by the American Music Center, Dark in the Song was formed in 2010 by five of the most innovative and accomplished bassoonists in the new music scene today. Learn more at our website: http://darkinthesong.com

Program

• July (1995) for 4 bassoons and contrabassoon
  by Michael Torke, arr. Lynn Hileman
• Air is a light sorrow (2011 ) for 4 bassoons and contrabassoon *World Premiere
  by Moon Young Ha
• Thicket (2011) for 5 bassoons *World Premiere
  by Christopher Dietz
• World Under Glass No. 1 (2011) for 5 bassoons *World Premiere
  by Amy Beth Kirsten
• 21 Miles to Coolville (2009) for solo bassoon and three accompanying bassoons
  David Smooke
• Pitch Black (1998) for getto baster & bassoon quartet
  by Jacob ter Veldhuis, arr. Saxton Rose

Soundchecking in Berlin

On March 21st I performed at the Philharmonie, where the Berlin Philharmonic plays, with Alarm Will Sound, one of the world’s premier contemporary chamber orchestras. Three days of rehearsals in New York and a quick trip to Berlin for the concert proved a thrilling and challenging experience. I was blown away by the talent of the group and the focused yet friendly atmosphere Alan Pierson and the members have cultivated. Here’s the program:

Harrison Birtwistle
“Carmen Arcadiae Mechanicae Perpetuum” für Ensemble

Wolfgang Rihm
“Will Sound” für Ensemble

John Adams
“Son of Chamber Symphony” für Kammerensemble

John Orfe
“Dowland Remix” (Flow My Tears)

Aphex Twin
“Cock/Ver 10″ arr. Stefan Freund
“Omgyjya Switch 7″ arr. Evan Hause
“Gwely Mernans” arr. Ken Thomson

Stefan Freund
“Unremixed”

On March 12, 13, and 15 I performed Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No. 4, Prokofiev’s Symphony no. 1 and Mozart’s Concerto for Clarinet with the Winston-Salem Symphony at the Steven’s Center in Winston-Salem, NC. Music director Robert Moody and clarinetist Anthony Taylor.

This past weekend I traveled to Memphis, TN to teach and perform at the annual Double Reed Festival presented by the Rudi E. Scheidt School of Music at the University of Memphis. The event was hosted by University of Memphis bassoon faculty Lecolion Washington and bassoonist Christopher Weait was also a guest. I had a terrific time playing, talking shop and eating BBQ with these excellent bassoonists.

Performances with the Winston-Salem Symphony January 7th and 9th of Rimsky Korsokov’s Scheherazade, Sibelius’ Finlandia, op. 26, Berg’s Violin Concerto and Brubeck’s Interplay for Three Violins. Robert Moody, conductor; Charles Dimmick, violin.

I currently serve as the chair of the International Double Reed Society Young Artist Bassoon Competition and I’m pleased to announce the list of judges for the competition’s preliminary round. I am extremely grateful to these individuals for their generosity and expertise, and to the competition committee: Nancy Ambrose King, Eric Stomberg and Kathleen McLean.

Judges for preliminary round
Whitney Crockett: Principal bassoon of Los Angeles Philharmonic

Carlo Colombo: Principal bassoon of Lyon National Opera Orchestra (France) and professor at the Lyon and Lausanne Conservatories

Lynn Hileman: Professor of Bassoon at West Virginia University

Together with my former colleagues at the Puerto Rico Conservatory of Music, I performed an exciting program of chamber music of composers Roberto Sierra (b. 1953), Alfonso Fuentes (b. 1954) and Raymond Torres (b.1958), three Puerto Rico Conservatory of Music alumni who have successfully brought the rich culture of the Caribe into the realm of classical music. The concert included unique solos, duos and trios for clarinet, bassoon, cello, piano and bongos that range from Fuentes’ Grammy-nominated “Voces del Barrio” for clarinet solo and “Mejunje del fagobongo” for bassoon and bongos, to the “Salsa on the C string” for cello and piano by Sierra and the Hollywood-inspired trio for clarinet, cello and piano by Torres. The lively dances of the Caribe —bomba, plena, salsa, mambo— are a constant inspiration in this program, which ends closer to home, with the boogie-woogie of the Sonata by Sierra. “Bongo Pasión,” the work for bongos by Fuentes that gives name to the program, was a world première.

“Unlike much of the classical music written today, which sometimes can be hard to grasp at a first hearing, the music of Fuentes and Sierra is well rooted in recognizable dances of the Caribe, sometimes tinted by jazz harmonies, creating an earthy sound that can be understood right away,” says Oskar Espina Ruiz, who, in addition to being artistic and executive director of Treetops Chamber Music Society in Stamford, CT, and clarinet professor at the Puerto Rico Conservatory of Music, is the curator of “BONGO PASSION”.

The tour schedule included a concerts at Symphony Space, the newly renovated Museo del Barrio Hecksher Theater, a composers forum at Manhattan School of Music, and a concert at Loft Artists Gallery in Stamford, CT.

On September 27th I performed with Renée Fleming and the Winston-Salem Symphony. What a terrific experience performing with one of the world’s great artists. On the program was Strauss’ Don Juan, Mahler’s Rückertlieder, Wagner’s ‘Siegfried’s Rhine Journey’ from Götterdämmerung, and lighter selections sung by Ms. Fleming.

Kristin Wolfe Jensen, Professor of Bassoon at the University of Texas at Austin will be on campus at UNCSA as a guest artist October 7th. She will give a master class at 3:45pm in Crawford Hall and a recital in Watson Recital Hall at 7:30pm with the participation of UNCSA faculty Robert Rocco and Saxton Rose.

Kristin Wolfe Jensen has been the bassoon professor at the University of Texas at Austin since 1995, and is also on the faculty of the International Festival Institute at Round Top, and the Eastern Music Festival where she is Principal Bassoonist of the Eastern Philharmonic. Ms. Jensen is Principal Bassoonist with the River Oaks Chamber Orchestra and previously has toured Europe with the Dallas Symphony Orchestra, and served as Acting Principal Bassoonist of the Houston Grand Opera. The American Record Guide reviewer said of her solo CD Shadings, “…She has simply turned in the finest-played Bassoon recital I have ever heard…she obviously sees tone quality as the foundation for her fluent technique…It is a ravishing sound, siren-like in its attractive flair…Ms. Jensen could teach a lot about musicality to a number of famous violinists….” Her other chamber music and solo recordings can be heard on the Cambria, Opus One, Klavier, and Centaur labels.

Ms. Jensen’s first teaching job was at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, followed by the University of North Texas, prior to joining the faculty at UT Austin. Ensembles with which Ms. Jensen has performed include The Dallas Opera Orchestra, The San Antonio Symphony, the Las Vegas Symphony, and Continuum. Ms. Jensen Co-hosted the 2005 International Double Reed Society conference in Austin and she is Co-director of the Meg Quigley Vivaldi Competition for young women bassoonists from the Americas. An esteemed pedagogue, she has given guest recitals and master classes many major American music schools and her former UT students hold major orchestral positions and university teaching positions around the country. Ms. Jensen attended the Oberlin College Conservatory where she double-majored in Music Performance and Music Education, and went on to receive a masters degree from the Juilliard School.