I recently performed Bachianas Brasileiras No. 6 For Flute and Bassoon by Heitor Villa-Lobos with flutist Tadeu Coelho. This beautiful and challenging work was a joy to rehearse and perform with my colleague Tadeu. The performance was part of professor Coelho’s recital on the campus of UNCSA in Watson Recital Hall. Also on the program was a Vivaldi sonata for flute performed by myself playing basso continuo with David Winkelman on harpsichord.

On March 30th I performed Elliott Carter’s Au Quai for Bassoon and Viola with my colleague Sheila Browne, viola teacher at UNCSA. Carter wrote this about the piece’s origin:

The title of this piece was suggested by Arnold Schoenberg’s short story “To the Wharfs” in which he describes the mounting anxiety of the members of a French fishing village as the boats and the sea-bound fisherman failed to appear after a storm and several days’ absence. When they were suddenly sighted all shouted “to the wharfs, aux quais, O.K!”

Au quai (’to the quay’) was supposedly used by French-speaking cotton pickers around New Orleans to signal that the cotton was packed and ready to send down to the docks for transport.

There is certainly no conclusion as to the origin of the phrase OK. There is no shortage however of explanations, some more likely than others.

• The oldest written references to ‘OK’ result from its adoption as a slogan by the Democratic party during the American Presidential election of 1840. Their candidate, President Martin Van Buren, was nicknamed ‘Old Kinderhook’ (after his birthplace in New York State), and his supporters formed the ‘OK Club’.
• During the American Civil War, soldiers relied on a biscuit called Orrin Kendall for rations and a port in Haiti called Aux Cayes was famous among American soldiers for its rum, known as ‘OK rum’.
• There lived a popular native American chief called Old Keokuk who signed all his treaties by using only his initials.
• It derives from the Scots expression ‘och aye’, the Greek ola kala (’it is good’), the Choctaw Indian oke or okeh (’it is so’), the French aux Cayes (’from Cayes’, a port in Haiti with a reputation for good rum), or the initials of a railway freight agent called Obediah Kelly who is said to have written them on lading documents he had checked.
• When box cars would be loaded and locked up, the shift boss would then write on the side of the car: OK, signifying it had been checked and was correct. But in fact, when that custom first began, the guy who wrote the letters couldn’t spell and thought the words were spelled Oll Korrect. Legend has it he was german and the words reflected what ‘all correct’ would have been in that language.
• It was a telegraphic signal meaning “open key,” that is, ready to receive. Others say OK was used for “all right” because A and R had already been appropriated for other purposes. Big problem with this theory: the first telegraph message was transmitted in 1844, five years after OK appeared
• It stands for O. Kendall & Sons, a supplier of army biscuits that stamped its initials on its product.

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.

Performance of Sofia Gubaidulina’s trio for bassoon, viola and piano Quasi Hoquetus with UNCSA faculty members, Sheila Browne, viola and Karen Beres, piano. The performance was part of a faculty concert at UNCSA on Valentine’s Day called “Ménage a Trios.” Its theme was trios of unusual instrumental combinations and included music by Bernstein, Nin, Turina, Hindemith, & John Harbison with Allison Gagnon, Joseph Genualdi, Janine Hawley, David Jolley, Eric Larsen, Kevin Lawrence, Robert Rocco, Judith Saxton, Taimur Sullivan and Brooks Whitehouse.

On February 7th, 8th and 10th I performed Mozart’s Sinfonia Concertante, K 297b with the Winston-Salem Symphony at the Stevens Center in Winston-Salem, NC. The other soloists were Kathryn Levy, flute; Amanda Gerfin, oboe and Robert Campbell, horn. Included on the concert was Bartok’s Concerto for Orchestra. Here is a review of a concert and a radio interview I participated in with conductors Matthew Troy and Bob Moody.

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

I recently performed as principal bassoonist with the Puerto Rico Symphony Orchestra in a concert including 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

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.

I recently performed with the Puerto Rico Symphony Orchestra on the opening concert of the 2008/09 season. The program included Ravel’s Piano Concerto in G major, Beethoven’s Symphony no. 3 and Roberto Sierra’s Fandangos. Maximiano Valdes, conductor; José Ramos Santana, piano. I will continue to perform occasionally this season as a guest with the PRSO until the principal bassoon position is filled.

Performance with PRSO of Tchaikovsky’s Symphony no. 5, Dvorak’s violin concerto, and Mariano Morales’ Obertura festiva. Jaime Morales, director; Henry Hutchinson, violin. 8pm, Centro de Bellas Artes.