For the second year in a row, the University of North Carolina School of the Arts (UNCSA) has been ranked among Kiplinger’s Best Values in Public Colleges. In addition, UNCSA again took top honors in the “lowest student-faculty ratio” category.

Kiplinger’s Personal Finance magazine announced the 100 Best Values in Public Colleges today, ranking four-year institutions “that deliver a stellar education at an affordable price.” The annual rankings appear in Kiplinger’s February 2011 issue, on newsstands today, and online at www.kiplinger.com/tools/colleges.

UNCSA ranked 48th this year, breaking into the nation’s top 50 and up from 61st last year.

For the second year in a row, Kiplinger’s reported that: “The University of North Carolina School of the Arts earns top honors in the student-faculty category, with a ratio of 8-1.”

Kiplinger’s reports that it bases its rankings “on a combination of academics and affordability. We start with data from more than 500 public four-year schools, provided by Peterson’s/Nelnet, then add our own reporting. We narrow the list to about 120 schools based on measures of academic quality — including SAT or ACT scores, admission and retention rates, student-faculty ratios, and four- and six-year graduation rates, which most schools reported for the class that entered in 2003. We then rank each school based on cost and financial aid. In our scoring system, academic quality carries more weight than costs (almost two-thirds of the total).”

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.

The following is Saxton Rose’s performance and event schedule for the 2010/2011 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.

May 20:

Performance of the Mozart Concerto for Bassoon with the Orquesta Sinfónica Nacional de Colombia in Bogotá

May 18-22:

Judge for the Bassoon Competition in Bogotá, Colombia as part of the ‘Encuentro Nacional de Fagotistas’ sponsored by the Orquesta Sinfónica Nacional de Colombia. Master classes May 17, 18, 19, 20, 2010

May 23-26:

Performance of Vivaldi Bassoon Concerto with Orquesta Sinfónica de Caldas in Manizales, Colombia. Teaching residency, solo recital.

June 16:

Performance with Dark in the Song, a new bassoon ensemble at The White Mule, a music bar in Columbia, SC. The performance will feature adventurous new music for amplified bassoon ensemble by Jacob Ter Veldhuis, David Lang, David Smooke and Zoe Keating.

June 22:

Performance with Dark in the Song, a new bassoon ensemble at the International Double Reed Society Conference in Norman, OK. The group is Peter Kolkay, Michael Harley, Rachael Elliott, Lynn Hileman and myself. The recital will feature works by Jacob Ter Veldhuis, David Lang, David Smooke and Zoe Keating.

July 18-23:

Faculty teaching residency and performances as principal bassoon at the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music Summer Music Festival. Music of Wagner, Mahler, Strauss with Lawrence Renes, conductor. More information

July 24-31:

Performances and teaching residency at the Quartz Mountain Music Festival and Orchestra Academy. More information

September 27:

Performance with Renée Fleming and Winston-Salem Symphony. Strauss’ Don Juan, Mahler’s Rückertlieder, Wagner’s Siegfried’s Rhine Journey from Götterdämmerung

October 1, 3, 5:

Performances of the opera Il Trovatore with Piedmont Opera

October 7:

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.

October 16, 17, 18:

W-S Symphony performances of Brahms Piano Concerto #1 and Awadagin Pratt. Also music of Barber and Elgar

October 28:

Composers Forum at Manhattan School of Music with Alfonso Fuentes. Performance of Mejunje de Fagobongo. 3pm

October 28:

Performance at Symphony Space – Thalia Theater in NYC . Music of contemporary Puerto Rican composers Alfonso Fuentes, Roberto Sierra including Mejunje de Fagobongo and Con Tres with clarinetist Oskar Espinosa Ruiz and bongocero Andrew Lázaro. 7:30pm. More information

October 29:

Performance at Loft Artists Gallery in Stamford, CT. Music of Puerto Rican composers A. Fuentes, R. Sierra including Mejunje de Fagobongo and Con Tres with clarinetist Oskar Espinosa Ruiz and bongoista Andrew Lázaro. More information

October 30:

Performance at Nuartlink Gallery in Westport, NY. Music of Puerto Rican composers A. Fuentes, R. Sierra including Mejunje de Fagobongo and Con Tres with clarinetist Oskar Espinosa Ruiz and bongoista Andrew Lázaro

October 31:

Performance at Museo del Barrio in NYC. Music of Puerto Rican composers A. Fuentes, R. Sierra including Mejunje de Fagobongo and Con Tres with clarinetist Oskar Espinosa Ruiz and bongoista Andrew Lázaro

November 12-14:

Master class and recital at Lynn Conservatory in Boca Raton, FL. For more info, contact Michael Ellert

November 21, 23:

Performances of Haydn’s The Creation with WS Symphony

December 14, 15:

Performances of Handel’s Messiah with WS Symphony and Chorus

January 7, 9:

Performances with the WS Symphony including Rimsky Korsokov’s Scheherazade, Berg Violin Concerto with Charles Dimmick. More information.

January 21-23:

Recitals and master classes at The Rudi E. Scheidt School of Music in Memphis, TN. Contact Lecolion Washington for information.

February 5, 6, 8:

Performances with WS Symphony of Mendelssohn/Shakespeare: Midsummer Night’s Dream with UNCSA Drama Department. More information.

March 12, 13, 15:

Performances with WS Symphony including Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No. 4, Prokofiev’s Symphony No. 1. More information.

March 21:

Performance with Alarm Will Sound in Berlin, Germany at the Philharmonie as part of the MaerzMusik contemporary music festival. Tickets

April 18:

Performance with contemporary bassoon collective Dark in the Song in Columbia, SC. Program TBA

April 19:

Performance with contemporary bassoon collective Dark in the Song as part of the Watson Chamber Music Series at UNCSA. 7:30pm. 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. Tickets

April 30:

Performance of Berio’s Sequenza XII for Bassoon performance as part of a UNCSA faculty concert of all Berio’s Sequenzas. Tickets

May 14, 15, 17:

Performances with WS Symphony inlcuding Beethoven’s Symphony No. 6 and Hindemith’s Symphonic Metamorphoses. More information.

May 31 – June 4:

Performances at the International Double Reed Society conference in Tempe, AZ. Recital with Dark in the Song of new works commissioned by the group from Christopher Dietz, Amy Beth Kirsten, Moon Young Ha, and Zhou Juan and a recital with soprano Elizabeth Pacheco Rose of music of Brahms and Mignone.

June 11:

Recital in Oswego, NY with pianist Rob Auler. Repertoire TBD

June 19-24:

Hosting the Double Reed Workshop at UNCSA. More information: http://www.uncsa.edu/summersession/music.htm

July 26-31:

Teaching and performing as faculty at the Quartz Mountain Music Festival in Southwest Oklahoma. More information

2009/2010

September 12, 13, 15:

Performances with the Winston-Salem Symphony including Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concerto no. 3 and Suite from Swan Lake by Tchaikovsky.

October 2, 4, 6:

Performances with Piedmont Opera of Hansel and Gretel, More information

October 10:

Performance with the Winston-Salem Symphony and pianist Awadagin Pratt. 7:30 pm Reynolds Auditorium.

October 27, 28:

Solo recital and master class at Ball State University in Muncie, Indiana. Contact Keith Sweger ksweger@bsu.edu for more information.

October 29, 30:

Solo recital and Masterclass at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Contact Timothy McGovern tsmcgove@uiuc.edu for more information.

November 22, 24:

Performances with the Winston-Salem Symphony including Peace Overture for Orchestra by Peck; Schicksalslied (Song of Fate) by Brahms; Requiem by Lloyd Webber

December 5:

Woodwind Day at UNCSA. Bassoon master class, reed making seminar, bassoon ensemble concert and a performance with the UNCSA woodwind faculty including Beethoven’s Duo for Bassoon and Clarinet with Alexander Fiterstein and a solo performance. Download the flyer or contact me for more information.

December 8:

Guest artist recital and master class at UNCSA featuring the bassoon duo Tuple, Rachael Elliott and Lynn Hileman. 4:30pm in Hood Recital Hall. Please contact me for more information.

December 15, 16, 21:

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

January 16:

Performance of Stravinsky’s Histoire du soldat/The Soldier’s Tale with Oleander Chamber Orchestra in Wilmington, NC.

February 5:

Performance as soloist with UNCSA contemporary music ensemble nu of Philippe Hersant’s Huit pièces pour basson et ensemble instrumental. Ransom Wilson conducting.

February 6, 7 and 9:

Performances with the Winston-Salem Symphony of Shostakovich’s Symphony no. 10 in E minor, op. 93 and Gershwin’s Piano Concerto in F Major

February 13:

Performance of Mejunje del fagobongo for bassoon and bongo by Alfonso Fuentes; Latin Love Op. 82 by Miguel del Aguila for wind quintet and piano; El Corazón Delator (The Accusing Heart) by Eduardo Morales-Caso for bassoon, flute and clarinet. Tadeu Coelho, flute; Joseph Robinson, oboe; Alexander Fiterstein, clarinet; David Jolley, horn; John R. Beck, bongo. 7:30 p.m., Watson Chamber Music Hall at UNCSA.

February 15:

Solo recital and Masterclass at Indiana University Jacobs School of Music in Bloomington, IN. Contact William Ludwig wludwig@indiana.edu for more information.

February 16:

Solo recital and Masterclass at Butler University in Indianapolis, IN. Contact Douglas Spaniol dspaniol@butler.edu for more information.

February 25:

Keith Sweger, bassoon professor at Ball State University recital and master class at UNCSA. 3:45pm master class in Hood Recital Hall, 8pm recital in Crawford Hall. Please contact me for more information.

March 13, 14, 10:

Performances with the Winston-Salem Symphony including Brandenburg Concerto no. 2 in F Major by Bach, Concerto for Mandolin by Thile

March 27:

Solo recital at UNCSA. “Guided by Voices: Music for Bassoon Inspired by Song” Program includes works by Phillipe Hersant, de Falla, Donizetti and Brahms. With pianist Karen Beres, violist Sheila Browne and soprano Elizabeth Pacheco Rose. 7:30 p.m., Watson Chamber Music Hall at UNCSA

April 9, 11, 13:

Performances with Piedmont Opera of Turandot, More information

April 10:

Performance with the Winston-Salem Symphony and Chris Botti, trumpet

April 15:

Solo recital and master class at Lawrence Conservatory of Music in Appleton, Wisconsin. Contact Monte Perkins monte.perkins@lawrence.edu for more information.

April 16:

Solo recital and master class at the University of Wisconsin – Madison. Contact Marc Vallon vallon@wisc.edu for more information.

April 19:

Solo recital and master class at the University of Minnesota – Duluth. Contact Jefferson Campbell jcampbel@d.umn.edu for more information.

April 26-May 1:

Teaching residency at the Universidad de Costa Rica in San José. Solo recital as part of the ‘Martes por la Noche’ concert series April 27th. Contact Isabel Jeremis at fagotisa@hotmail.com for more information.

May 16, 17:

Performances with the Winston-Salem Symphony of Mahler’s Symphony no. 5

May 20:

Performance of the Mozart Concerto for Bassoon with the Orquesta Sinfónica Nacional de Colombia in Bogotá

May 18-22:

Judge for the Bassoon Competition in Bogotá, Colombia as part of the ‘Encuentro Nacional de Fagotistas’ sponsored by the Orquesta Sinfónica Nacional de Colombia. Master classes May 17, 18, 19, 20, 2010

May 23-26:

Performance of Vivaldi Bassoon Concerto with Orquesta Sinfónica de Caldas in Manizales, Colombia. Teaching residency, solo recital.

June 16:

Performance with Dark in the Song, a new bassoon ensemble at The White Mule, a music bar in Columbia, SC. The performance will feature adventurous new music for amplified bassoon ensemble by Jacob Ter Veldhuis, David Lang, David Smooke and Zoe Keating.

June 22:

Performance with Dark in the Song, a new bassoon ensemble at the International Double Reed Society Conference in Norman, OK. The group is Peter Kolkay, Michael Harley, Rachael Elliott, Lynn Hileman and myself. The recital will feature works by Jacob Ter Veldhuis, David Lang, David Smooke and Zoe Keating.

July 18-23:

Faculty teaching residency and performances as principal bassoon at the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music Summer Music Festival. Music of Wagner, Mahler, Strauss with Lawrence Renes, conductor. More information

July 24-31:

Performances and teaching residency at the Quartz Mountain Music Festival and Orchestra Academy. More information

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.

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.

The Halcyon Wind Quintet, a chamber ensemble I coach at UNCSA won the MTNA Southern Regional Competition last weekend in Mobile, Alabama after winning the North Carolina State competition in October. They now move on to the national competition in Albuquerque, New Mexico on March 20th. Read the press release below.

WINSTON-SALEM – A University of North Carolina School of the Arts (UNCSA) student chamber music ensemble won the Music Teachers National Association (MTNA) Chamber Music Performance Southern Region Competition this past weekend.

The Halcyon Wind Quintet performed Quintets for Winds by composers Carl Neilsen and Elliot Carter. The group was praised by judges for its “elegant musicality, dynamic range, and excellent intonation.”

The quintet now advances to the MTNA Chamber Music National Finals, to be held in Albuquerque, N.M., at the MTNA National Conference, on March 20. The national winner of this competition receives a cash prize and will perform in a Winners Concert during the conference.

The MTNA Chamber Music Performance Southern Region Competition, held in Birmingham, Ala., brought together the top collegiate chamber groups from the eight states that make up the Southern Region. The Halcyon Winds won the North Carolina competition in October 2009 to advance to regional competition in Alabama.

The Halcyon Wind Quintet was established in September 2008 at the University of North Carolina School of the Arts under the tutelage of former clarinet teacher Igor Begelman. They gave their first ensemble recital in May 2009 and are frequent recitalists, performing in schools as part of community outreach, and in venues throughout North Carolina.

The ensemble is currently under the tutelage of Saxton Rose, UNCSA School of Music artist-faculty member in bassoon.

The Halcyon Wind Quintet includes the following student artists:

• Erika Boysen, flute, a college senior from Des Moines, Iowa
• Michael Dwinell, oboe, a college junior from Asheville, N.C.
• Allison Bates, clarinet, a college junior from Winston-Salem
• Kristen Goguen, bassoon, a Professional Artist Certificate candidate from Lexington, Ky.
• Gretchen Wetherald, horn, a Master of Music candidate from Cincinnati, Ohio

Also at the MTNA Southern Region Competition, UNCSA School of Music student Ben Robinette, saxophone, won the title of First Alternate in the MTNA Young Artist Performance Woodwind Division. He is a first-year graduate student from Burke, Va.

The Music Teachers National Association is a nonprofit organization composed of 24,000 independent and collegiate music teachers committed to advancing the value of music study and music making to society and to supporting the professionalism of music teachers. Founded in 1876, Music Teachers National Association is the oldest professional music association in the United States.

The University of North Carolina School of the Arts is the first state-supported, residential school of its kind in the nation. Established as the North Carolina School of the Arts by the N.C. General Assembly in 1963, UNCSA opened in Winston-Salem (“The City of the Arts”) in 1965 and became part of the University of North Carolina system in 1972. More than 1,100 students from middle school through graduate school train for careers in the arts in five professional schools: Dance, Design and Production (including a Visual Arts Program), Drama, Filmmaking, and Music. UNCSA is the state’s only public arts conservatory, dedicated entirely to the professional training of talented students in the performing, visual and moving image arts. Internationally renowned conductor John Mauceri has been chancellor of UNCSA since 2006. UNCSA is located at 1533 S. Main St., Winston-Salem. For more information, visit www.uncsa.edu.

Bassoonists Lynn Hileman and Rachael Elliott (pictured below) performed a recital and master class at the University of North Carolina School of the Arts Tuesday, December 8th at 4:30pm in Hood Recital Hall. Students of Saxton Rose performed in the master class and the recital program included the works below.

• Bounce (1988), Michael Daugherty
• Duo Sonata (1977), Sofia Gubaidulina
• Nocturnal Residents (1989), Chiel Meijering
• Lacrimosa (1991), Louis Andriessen
• Black (2008), Marc Mellits

More photos here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/saxton/tags/tuple/
Tuple is dedicated to exploring and expanding the contemporary repertoire for two bassoons, with a virtuosic repertoire spanning Russian mystical, funk-inspired American, and other modern genres, from absurdist to minimalist, electronic to static.
http://tuplemusic.org/

One of four UNCSA School of Music performance venues, the Judy and Bill Watson Chamber Music Hall was designed by renowned acoustician Rein Pirn and architects Calloway Johnson Moore West. The 292-seat hall was designed specifically for chamber music.

The shape of the Hall echoes the curves of a violin and was designed with acoustic curtains that can be manipulated to change its acoustic properties. A special "high volume, low velocity" HVAC system was designed to minimize ambient noise.

This complex serves as both performance and teaching venue, and includes two new large rehearsal rooms, a lobby, box office, green room, dressing rooms, administrative offices and faculty teaching studios.

In addition to the other grants, scholarships, and federal loans available to students, the following are being offered for the 2010-2011 academic year:

Bassoon Studio Graduate Assistantship
The School of Music at the University of North Carolina School of the Arts offers the Master of Music and Professional Artist Certificate for Bassoon. The bassoon assistantship is available beginning in the 2010-2011 academic year. Responsibilities include: Perform with the graduate woodwind quintet; 3 hours per week determined by professor; monitoring reed hours. Outside performance opportunities may include work with the Winston-Salem Symphony, other regional orchestras and community outreach performances.

Graduate Tuition Reductions
Graduate Tuition Reductions cover the full cost of tuition. Tuition reductions are awarded based on the recommendation of the School of Music faculty.

Additional Awards
Music scholarships are awarded on a competitive basis, based on the recommendations of the School of Music faculty.

Download the flyer with assistantship and other scholarship information:
http://www.saxtonrose.com/temp/UNCSA_Bassoon2010.pdf

For information on how to apply:
http://www.saxtonrose.com/teaching/apply/

NOTE: For full consideration for scholarships or assistantship, applicants should audition by February 16th, 2010.

Contact me for more information or:

Steve LaCosse
Interim Dean for Graduate Studies
Telephone: (336) 631-1537
Email: lacosses@uncsa.edu
Online: www.uncsa.edu

The University of North Carolina School of the Arts was founded as the nation’s first public conservatory for the arts, dedicated entirely to the intensive training and career development of aspiring artists in the performing, visual and moving image arts. Degrees are available at the undergraduate, masters, post-masters, and high school level.