On March 27th I will perform a solo recital as part of the Watson Hall Recital Series at UNC School of the Arts in Winston-Salem, NC. If you’re in there area, I hope you can make it. Here’s the information:

“Guided by Voices: Music for Bassoon Inspired by Song”
Music of Brahms, de Falla, Luigi Orselli and Philippe Hersant. With UNCSA faculty members Sheila Browne, viola and Karen Beres, piano along with guests Elizabeth Pacheco Rose, soprano and Rebecca Pacheco Mordo, piano.

• Philippe Hersant: Hopi for solo bassoon
• Brahms: Zwei Gesänge, Op.91
• Luigi Orselli: Reminiscenze su “La Traviata” di G. Verdi
• Philippe Hersant: Duo Sephardim
• Manuel de Falla: Suite Populaire Espagnol

Mar. 27, 7:30 p.m. at Watson Chamber Music Hall
$12 adults / $10 seniors and students

Watson Hall (UNCSA Campus) Box Office:
Noon to 4 p.m. Wednesday-Friday
Phone Number: (336) 734-2872 or (336) 721-1945

Keith Sweger, professor of bassoon at Ball State University in Indiana presented a master class and recital at the University of North Carolina School of the Arts on February 25th.

The program included Gernot Wolfgang’s Three Short Stories for bassoon and viola, Libby Larsen’s Jazz Variations for solo bassoon, Weber’s Concerto for Bassoon and ‘Una voce poco fa’ from The Barber of Seville for two bassoons with Prof. Sweger and myself. Robert Rocco played piano and Prof. Sweger was joined by Ball State violist Philip Tietze.

On February 15th I gave a lecture-recital on extended bassoon techniques at Indiana University Jacobs School of Music in Bloomington, IN. A focal point of the talk was using the International Phonetic Alphabet to describe and explain various internally generated extended techniques such as flutter-tongue, multi-phonics and harmonics. I used as examples, Sequenza XII of Berio and Huit pièces pour basson et ensemble instrumental by Philippe Hersant, among other works. Thank you to Professors William Ludwig and Kathleen Mclean for having me as a guest.

On February 16th I presented a master class and solo recital at Butler University in Indianapolist, IN. I had a terrific time working with the students there and performing with bassoon professor Doug Spaniol.

I recently performed on a UNCSA faculty chamber music concert in Watson Hall entitled Latin Love. The program featured the music of Miguel del Aguila, Jack Delano, Villa-Lobos, Paquito D’Rivera, Eduardo Gamboa and Piazzolla. I performed the woodwind quintets of D’Rivera and del Aguila with Tadeu Coelho, flute; Joe Robinson, oboe; Alexander Fiterstein, clarinet and David Jolley, horn along with Jack Delano’s duet for bassoon and clarinet, Tres Payasadas. My wife Elizabeth also performed on this concert as soloist in the Bachiana Brasileira No. 5 of Heitor Villa-Lobos.
Here’s a review.

On February 6th, 7th and 9th I performed Shostakovich’s Symphony No. 10 in E minor, Op. 93 and Gershwin’s Piano Concerto in F with the Winston-Salem Symphony. Robert Moody, conductor
Bryan Wallick, piano. Here’s a review.

This weekend I had the great pleasure of performing one of my favorite pieces of music by one of my favorite composers. The Soldier’s Tale (Histoire de Soldat) is a 1918 theatrical work “to be read, played, and danced” (“lue, jouée et dansée”) set to music by Igor Stravinsky. The libretto, which is based on a Russian folk tale, is a parable about a soldier who trades his fiddle to the devil for a book that predicts the future of the economy. The music is scored for a septet of violin, double bass, clarinet, bassoon, cornet (often played on trumpet), trombone, and percussion, and the story is told by three actors: the soldier, the devil, and a narrator, who also takes on the roles of minor characters. This concert was with the Oleander Chamber Orchestra in Wilmington, NC Saturday, January 16.

Performances with the Winston-Salem Symphony on November 22, 24, 2009 including Russell Peck’s tone poem, Peace Overture, which was inspired by the struggle for peace in the Middle East. Brahms’ melancholy Schicksalslied (Song of Fate) for chorus and orchestra expresses mankind’s timeless struggle between destiny and fate. Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Requiem. Robert Moody, conductor

I had the pleasure of performing solo recitals, giving master classes and teaching lessons at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and Ball State University in Muncie, Indiana last week. I had a terrific time working with both bassoon studios and with Professors Keith Sweger and Timothy McGovern. These are two very strong programs. The recital programs inlcuded:

• Vivaldi: Concerto for bassoon in d minor, F.VIII, No. 5
• Telemann: Fantasie for solo bassoon No. 1 in C major, No. 2 in d minor and No. 3 in d minor
• Hersant: Hopi for solo bassoon
• Hersant: Niggun for solo bassoon
• Mozart: Sonata, K. 292 for two bassoons

On September 12th, 13th and 15th I performed as principal bassoon of the Winston-Salem Symphony a program which included Theofanidis’ Rainbow Body, Tchaikovsky’s Suite from Swan Lake and Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concerto no. 3. Robert Moody conducted and the piano soloist was Terrence Wilson. Read the review here.

From July 19-26 I visited Birmingham, England to attend the International Double Reed Conference. The IDRS conference is held during the summer once a year, each time in a different location throughout the world. This year’s event in Birmingham marked the first conference in the UK for 20 years and was a terrific success. In addition to performing at this year’s conference, I assisted in the videography of performances and master classes for publication on IDRS.org, the website of the International Double Reed Society for which I serve as assistant editor. Look for the new videos soon at http://www.idrs.org/multimedia/.