William Ludwig, professor of bassoon at Indiana University – Bloomington, presented a master class and recital at the University of North Carolina School of the Arts in Winston-Salem, NC on Thursday, February 19th. The master class took place from 2:00-4:00pm in Hood Recital Hall in the Gray Building and the recital was in Watson Hall at 6:00pm. It was a great pleasure to have one of the foremost performers and teachers in the US at UNCSA. Photos from the event.

William Ludwig
William Ludwig joined the faculty of the IU Jacobs School of Music in August of 2007. Previous to this appointment he had been Professor of Bassoon at Louisiana State University since 1985. For the last seven summers he has been in residence at the Brevard Music Center as principal bassoon and artist faculty.

His orchestral experience includes principal bassoon with the Baton Rouge Symphony (1986-2007) and the Florida Orchestra (1980-1985). A noted chamber musician he has performed in a wide variety of settings in the United States and Europe, including at the Prague Spring International Music Festival and Highlands (NC) Chamber Music Festival and with the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, Timm Wind Quintet and Ars Nova Wind Quintet. He was artist-in-residence at the State University of New York-Stony Brook Department of Music from 1989 to 1994 concurrently with his LSU appointment and taught at the University of South Florida from 1979 to 1985. He holds degrees from Louisiana State University and Yale School of Music and studied with John Patterson, Sol Schoenbach, Leonard Sharrow, Bernard Garfield and Arthur Weisberg.

I gave a recital and master class at the University of South Carolina in Columbia, SC on February 16th. I would like to thank USC bassoon professor, Peter Kolkay for the invitation and to his students who were terrific. Prof. Kolkay has built a strong program there and it was a pleasure to meet and hear the studio.

Here is an excerpt from an article in the Winston-Salem Journal by Ken Keuffel about concerts this weekend in which I will perform as soloist. On the program is Mozart’s Sinfonia Concertante and Bartok’s Concerto for Orchestra. Read the entire article.

No fewer than six symphony musicians have been engaged as concerto soloists during a program titled “Orchestral Headliners.” Robert Moody, the symphony’s music director, will share conducting duties with Matthew Troy, the symphony’s recently appointed assistant conductor and education director. “I want to remind people of how strong the members of the Winston-Salem Symphony are and what really high level of player we’ve got here,” Moody said. In addition to the “Classics” concerts, an abridged version of “Orchestral Headliners” will be presented Saturday at the Stevens Center, kicking off the four-concert “Kicked-Back Classics” series.

Bassoonist Rose played in the Puerto Rico Symphony before moving here this fall to teach at the UNC School of the Arts. He has performed several concertos in recent years. Those works were for one soloist only, whereas Sinfonia concertante will engage four soloists.
“This is a lot of fun because we get to collaborate,” Rose said. “We get to collaborate on how we want the music to sound. (As a lone soloist), you make decisions by yourself.”

Mejunje del Fagobongo, a piece for bassoon and bongo written for me by Puerto Rican composer Alfonso Fuentes, has now been published and is available for purchase. After some minor editing by the composer, it is being published by TrevCo Music. I premiered this terrific new work in 2007 and performed it again in the Casals Festival and at the conference of the International Double Reed Society in Utah in the summer of 2008. More information about the piece here.

The University of North Carolina School of the Arts hosted a woodwind day December 6th from 9am until 5pm. The event included master classes, reed making seminars, clinics on performance anxiety and practice methods by myself and UNCSA faculty members John Ellis (oboe), Tadeu Coelho (flute), Taimur Sullivan (saxophone) and Igor Begelman (clarinet). That evening the woodwind faculty performed a recital in Watson Hall on the UNCSA campus including André Previn’s Sonata for Bassoon and Piano and Mendelssohn’s Concertpiece No. 2.

Schedule:

• 9:00am A performance of Stravinsky’s Octet for winds given by UNCSA graduate students
• 10:00am Clinics on improving practice habits and combating performance anxiety
• 12:00pm Lunch
• 1:00pm Individual master classes and reed making seminar given by UNCSA woodwind faculty including oboe professor John Ellis and bassoon professor Saxton Rose
• 3:00pm Open rehearsal of the UNCSA Wind Ensemble
• 7:30pm Performance by the UNCSA woodwind faculty: Saxton Rose, bassoon; John Ellis, oboe; Taimur Sullivan, saxophone; Igor Begelman, clarinet; Tadeu Colelho, flute

On October 21st I had the pleasure of performing Sofia Gubaidulina’s Duo Sonata, originally for two bassoons, with my UNCSA colleague Taimur Sullivan on Bari Sax. The piece works surprisingly well for this combination and I highly recommend it when planning a program with saxophone. There is a popular edition available for two baritone saxophones and playing from either part using this edition works well with only a few minor adjustments. The performance took place in Watson Music Hall on the UNCSA campus.

The following is Saxton Rose’s performance and event schedule for the 2008/2009 season. It is subject to change so if you have questions about attending an event, please contact me.
Map to University of North Carolina School of the Arts.

September 18, 20, 21 and 22:

Performances with the Winston-Salem Symphony of Strauss’ Ein Heldenleben.

October 11:

Performance with the Puerto Rico Symphony Orchestra of Ravel’s Piano Concerto in G major, Roberto Sierra’s Fandangos and Beethoven’s Symphony no. 3; José Ramos Santana, piano; Maximiano Valdés, conducting. 8pm Centro de Bellas Artes, San Juan, Puerto Rico

October 21:

Performance of Gubaidulina’s Duo Sonata with UNCSA faculty member Taimur Sullivan on baritone saxophone. 7:30 p.m., Watson Chamber Music Hall at UNCSA

November 22:

Performance with the Puerto Rico Symphony Orchestra of Smetana’s Overture to The Bartered Bride, Debussy’s La Mer and Brahms’ Violin Concerto with Sarah Chang, violin; Luis Biava, conducting. 8pm Centro de Bellas Artes, San Juan, Puerto Rico

December 6:

Woodwind Day at UNCSA. Bassoon master class, reed making seminar, bassoon ensemble concert and a performance with the UNCSA woodwind faculty including André Previn’s Sonata for Bassoon and Piano and Mendelssohn’s Concertpiece No. 2 with clarinetist Igor Belgelman and pianist Alex Maynegre.

December 18, 19:

Performances with the Winston-Salem Symphony of Handel’s Messiah

January 19:

Performance with Rafael Frühbeck de Burgos conducting the Puerto Rico Symphony Orchestra of a program including Stravinsky’s The Firebird and Respighi’s Fountains of Rome. 8pm Centro de Bellas Artes, San Juan, Puerto Rico

January 24:

Performances with the Winston-Salem Symphony of Prokofiev’s Peter and the Wolf

January 27:

Performance with UNCSA faculty of Mozart’s Quintet in E flat major for Piano and Winds. 7:30pm in Watson Chamber Music Hall

January 29:

Bassoonist Charles McCracken recital and master class at UNCSA.

February 7, 8 and 10:

Performance as soloist with the Winston-Salem Symphony of Mozart’s Sinfonia concertante, K 297b; Robert Moody, conductor. Also on the program is Bartok’s Concerto for Orchestra. More information

February 14:

Performance of Gubaidulina’s Quasi Hoquetus for viola, bassoon and piano with UNCSA faculty members, Sheila Browne and Karen Beres. 7:30 p.m., Watson Chamber Music Hall at UNCSA

February 16:

Recital and master class at the University of South Carolina hosted by Professor Peter Kolkay. For more information, email Peter Kolkay at pkolkay@mozart.sc.edu

February 19:

William Ludwig, professor of bassoon at Indiana University – Bloomington, will present a master class and recital at UNCSA. The master class will take place from 2:00-4:00pm and the recital is in Watson Hall at 6:00pm. More information.

March 6, 8, 10:

Performances with the Winston-Salem Symphony and JoAnn Falletta of Schumann’s Manfred Overture and Brahms’ Symphony No. 2 in D Major. More information

March 31:

Performance of Elliott Carter’s Au Quai for viola and bassoon with UNCSA faculty member Sheila Browne. 7:30 p.m., Watson Chamber Music Hall at UNCSA

April 3, 5, 7:

Performances with Piedmont Opera of The Marriage of Figaro, More information

April 4:

Chamber music concert with UNCSA flutist, Tadeu Coelho, harpsichordist Eric Larsen including Villa-Lobos’ Bachianas Brasileiras No.6 for flute and bassoon. 7:30 p.m., Watson Chamber Music Hall at UNCSA

April 18, 19, 21:

Performances with the Winston-Salem Symphony of Ravel’s Bolero and music of Turina, de Falla and Rodrigo. More information.

May 16, 17, 19:

Performances with the Winston-Salem Symphony of Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 in D minor

May 29:

Performance with the Puerto Rico Symphony Orchestra of Ravel’s Rapsodia española and Rimsky-Korsakov’s Shéhérazade. Maximiano Valdés, conducting. 8pm Centro de Bellas Artes, San Juan, Puerto Rico

June 21 – July 4:

Teaching at the UNCSA Summer music program. Learn more

July 12, 13:

Performances as part of the Highlands-Cashiers Chamber Music Festival in Highlands and Cashiers North Carolina. Solo and chamber music concerts including the Villa-Lobos and Francaix trios for oboe, clarinet and bassoon with Laura Ardan, clarinet and John Dee, oboe; and TBD solo repertoire. More information

July 21-25:

Solo and chamber music recitals as invited guest at the International Double Reed Society Conference in Birmingham, England. Solo recital to include music of Jacob Ter Veldhuis, Brian Ebert and Telemann.

I have recently accepted a new position at the University of North Carolina School of the Arts in Winston-Salem, North Carolina to begin September of 2008. This is a full-time position requiring me and my emergent family to move from our home in Puerto Rico. This is an exciting new opportunity giving me the chance to teach in a supportive environment, one that strongly encourages its faculty to perform. I look forward to working and performing with the exceptional world-class faculty at UNCSA.

Leaving Puerto Rico was a difficult decision as my work with the symphony and the conservatory was extremely rewarding. We will greatly miss our dear friends and colleagues and the beautiful island we called home for 4 1/2 years.

Dominic Teresi, bassoonist and historical performance practice specialist of Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra gave a masterclass and period instrument demonstration at the Puerto Rico Conservatory Monday, Feb. 4. Tafelmusik performed in San Juan at Centro de Bellas Artes Sunday night and again at the conservatory Monday morning. Mr. Teresi demonstrated and spoke about baroque affect while working with students from the conservatory. It was an extremely interesting class and we thank Dominic for his time.

I’m very excited to announce that the newly redesigned International Double Reed Society website, IDRS.org has finally launched. I have been maintaining the homepage for 4-5 years now and was responsible for its design but the enormous amount of research, files and information that had accumulated over the 13 years of IDRS.org’s existence was in desperate need of a complete renovation. Yoshi Ishikawa, the site’s Editor and I worked to segment the different facets of the site into manageable and easily understandable/rememberable sections. We also revamped the login process providing better access to members-only sections of the site like score downloads and videos. The process by which users join the IDRS online, edit their account information and renew their membership was completely rewritten.

I worked to create a design that was simple, easy to read and elegant. I reworked the logo a bit and tried to keep the look uncluttered.

Though there is still a lot of work to be done converting thousands of pages of html into the new XHTML/CSS/PHP framework I think we’ve laid the groundwork for a successful ongoing system.

Go to the site now, IDRS.org. If you’re not a member of IDRS, join.