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.

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.

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.

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/

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

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.

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

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.

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.

An article appeared recently in the North Carolina newspaper YES! Weekly from an interview I gave writer Keith Barber. A link to the article is here.