NEWBASSOON INSTITUTE 2023
We’ve found a new home! The NewBassoon Institute (changed from Workshop) will now be hosted by the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, with my friend and colleague Jeff Lyman joining the faculty! We are thrilled to be there … and I’m so happy to be spending even more time in my Midwestern stomping grounds this summer. SC gets a little warm! Hope to see you there … dates are June 11-17. For more info and to register, click here.
NEWBASSOON WORSHOP 2022
The NewBassoon Workshop is back! Please consider joining faculty Rachael Elliott, Lynn Hileman, Saxton Rose, and myself, along with very special guest Rebekah Heller, in charming Chestertown, MD this summer. Dates are June 4-11, 2022. More information can be found here.
sc Double reed day 2021
Back live and in-person at the University of South Carolina School of Music! Bassoonists and oboists, please join me and my new colleague, oboe professor Hassan Anderson, here in Columbia on Saturday, November 20, 2021. For details and to register, see our Double Reed Day webpage.
A NEW CONCERTO for bassoon and wind ensemble
Nico Muhly’s Reliable Sources (2018) is a beautiful and in some respects unique new piece for bassoon and wind ensemble (really, chamber winds — it can be performed by an orchestra’s wind section). It was the product of a consortium commission led by conductor Scott Weiss / UofSC Wind Ensemble and myself, involving nineteen other bassoonists and ensembles from around the country. Our digital-only recording was released on Cantaloupe Records on October 22, 2021, and can be downloaded, streamed on all the usual services, or heard on YouTube.
Nico is a phenom, the youngest composer ever to be commissioned by the Metropolitan Opera (Two Boys, 2011). The title of Reliable Sources refers to the author of its source material: English Renaissance composer Orlando Gibbons is a figure Muhly has returned to time and time again in his work. This concerto, a giant theme and variations — but with the theme fully revealed near the end, in a gorgeous bassoon trio, rather than presented at the beginning — is based on Gibbons’s Lord Salisbury’s Pavanne, famously recorded by Glenn Gould, among many artists.
Reliable Sources is a challenge for the bassoonist, particularly with regards to endurance, rhythm (numerous complex rhythms are overlaid on top of each other throughout the piece), and range (high Es and Fs, articulated). The ensemble parts are not easy either. But it’s well worth the effort! I believe it’s unparalleled in our repertoire for the way the bassoon and wind parts are so delicately and thoroughly integrated, subtly shadowing and playing off each other. And to have a work featuring bassoon by one of the major figures in 21st century music is exciting. Bassoonists, check out and play this piece!
introducing the HECKELDEX
UofSC senior bassoonist Avery Dabe has designed and is maintaining an outstanding new resource for bassoonists: his Heckeldex is the only “crowd-sourced encyclopedia” of Heckel bassoons. This is an elegant and fascinating site, and I encourage any bassoonists who own Heckels to consider contributing their information and bassoon images to the site (all can be done anonymously). An interview with Avery will be featured in the upcoming edition of The Double Reed.
This project is an outgrowth of an independent study here, as well as individual bassoon studio projects all members complete.
new members of the uofsc bassoon studio
A hearty welcome to all six (!) new members of the bassoon studio here at the University of South Carolina! We are so glad to have the following young bassoonists join us: Masters student Christina French (VA) and freshman Hunter Alexander, Amanda Cox, Preston Lee, Aaron Nealy, and Hampton Stroble, all from SC. Also participating and new at UofSC is musicology MM student Grayson Saylor (GA). Welcome!
Debut recording of nico muhly’s “Reliable sources,” for bassoon and wind ensemble
I’m thrilled that my recording of Nico’s amazing new(-ish) concerto, Reliable Sources, premiered with the UofSC Wind Ensemble in November of 2018, will be released on Cantaloupe Music in October of 2021! Stay tuned …
14 bassoons in the Congaree
The UofSC Bassoon Studio’s spring recital was probably my favorite EVER. Joined by some bassoonist friends from the region, we performed Brad Balliett’s Arboretum in the Congaree National Park, one of this country’s greatest old-growth forests — designed specifically for the location. For more information on this noteworthy piece about trees with solos and duos that cohere beautifully, please see our website for the performance (I encourage other studios to do it!)
VIDEO CHAT VARIATIONS
Alarm Will Sound has actually been pretty busy during the pandemic! Suffice to say, we’ve all had to up our technology games. To view all of our Video Chat Variations (mentioned below as well) search for them online or via this archive. These include the premieres of works written for the online medium by Meredith Monk, Tyshawn Sorey, John Fitz Rogers, David Lang, and Rohan Chander.
GET out the vote 2020
Express yourself in art, music … and at the ballot box. Check out — and consider joining! — Alarm Will Sound’s #beginwiththeballot initiative. Contributors include Kaveh Rastegar, Clipping, John Medeski, and Frederic Rzewski.
MUSIC in the covid era
The pandemic has not been kind to musicians. With very few exceptions, we’ve more or less had to cease performing live since at least the middle of March, 2019. It is possible, however, to make some lemonade out of this giant lemon, and in so doing help develop meaningful musical expressions that will outlast COVID … I’m delighted to still be making music in various ways, including some pretty special projects with Alarm Will Sound, from a “screens” version of John Luther Adams’ Ten Thousand Birds, featured in the Washington Post, to newly-composed Video Chat Variations by composers including Meredith Monk and Tyshawn Sorey, recorded live using the software program Jamulus, to socially-distanced, outdoor performing! (My first of this sort, and hopefully not the last, occurred in August of 2020). Keep me posted regarding what you think are the most exciting musical developments of the COVID Era, March 2019 to ???
new album: come closer
My first solo album was released on October 18, 2019, on New Focus Recordings! Come Closer also features pianist Phillip Bush and members of the UofSC string faculty, and is comprised entirely of newly-commissioned pieces. (A whole page of this site is devoted to the project). I love them all, and my dream is that others will too, enough to play them themselves! Please contact me directly if you’d like me to put you in touch with any of the composers, or write them yourself. Composers are: John Fitz Rogers, Stefan Freund, Carl Schimmel, Fang Man, Reginald Bain, Caleb Burhans, and Jesse Jones. The album will be available in all the usual places, including Amazon, iTunes, Spotify, Naxos, etc.
New bassoonists at uofSC
A hearty welcome to four newcomers in the fall of 2019 to Columbia and the University of South Carolina bassoon studio: graduate student Ryan Roikola (NC) and freshman Julia Blazinic (NC), Shad Burkett (SC), and Clark Hughes (SC). Looking forward to years of music-making!
2019 NewBassoon Institute, june 1-8, chestertown, md
Dark in the Song (Saxton Rose, Lynn Hileman, Rachael Elliott, and I) will once again be hosting the summer NewBassoon Institute, in conjunction with the National Music Festival in lovely Chestertown, MD. The institute explores contemporary bassoon repertoire (solo, chamber) and techniques, and includes a performance competition (finalists receive partial scholarships!). Our special guest and featured artist this year is the spectacularly creative Brad Balliett! Dates this year are June 1-8, 2019. For more information and to apply, please visit our website.
welcome, usc freshman bassoonists!
Four bassoon majors joined the ranks of the studio this year (2018-19): Noah Broam (SC), Avery Dabe (from Colorado by way of SC), Victoria Donaldson (SC), and Jadon Schuler (VA). They’ve all become significant contributors in ensembles, and are playing in a freshman quartet! The studio size is up to 15 now, including about 9-10 majors … about where I’d like it to be, maybe a bit on the large size. Audition dates in the winter of 2019 include Jan. 26, Feb. 16, and Feb. 23.
muhly concerto - world premiere
I was so fortunate to be able to give the world premiere of what I’m convinced is a truly significant contribution to the bassoon repertoire: Nico Muhly’s Reliable Sources, a concerto for bassoon and orchestral winds. We did the premiere here in Columbia on Nov. 15, 2018, with the wonderful UofSC Wind Ensemble, directed by Scott Weiss. A number of Nico’s works, including this one, are indebted in some way to the music of Renaissance composer Orlando Gibbons (1583-1625), and the concerto’s title alludes to this relationship. The piece represents so much of what I love about Nico’s music: a beautiful harmonic sensibility, great rhythmic drive and energy, an innate sense of flow and pacing, striking dramatic moments, cool Renaissance-sounding ideas mixed into a post-minimalist soundscape. I hope I can get out to hear a few more performances of the work by other great bassoonists around the country — the piece was commissioned by a consortium of 19 schools, including Eastman, Michigan, Texas, and North Carolina School of the Arts. Look for my recording of the piece, coming soon!
2018 NEWBASSOON Institute with dark in the song
Dark in the Song's 2018 Institute focusing on contemporary bassoon repertoire (particularly chamber music) and techniques will be held June 8-12 in lovely Chestertown, MD, in conjunction with the National Music Festival! For details and to register, please see our website.
USC School of music 2017-18 audition dates
Woodwind auditions for the USC School of Music are set for the following Saturdays: December 9, 2017; January 20, 2018; February 3, 2018; and February 10, 2018. Private auditions can also be scheduled. We have good scholarship funding available for talented bassoonists! To set up an audition, please see this link.
welcome new usc bassoonists!
The USC bassoon studio just got a lot bigger: we are thrilled to welcome 6 new freshman, one transfer student, and one new graduate student to the USC bassoon family. The studio now numbers 14! More info coming, including studio member profiles, on our FaceBook Page, if I can ever get around to updating the thing.
2017 sc double reed day is in the books!
We had a ball on Nov. 11, with more than 20 young bassoonists in attendance! Thanks to Midwest Musical Imports, Musical Innovations, and Alexander Technician Petrea Warneck for joining us. More information about the day can be found here.
thriller redux! "Overture for a vampire" Halloween spooktacular oct 31, 2017
The USC double reed studios presented their second annual kid-friendly Halloween show this year. The USC studios dressed up in costumes related to the pieces (including a fun Thriller/Ghostbusters/Figaro Mashup by studio member Ryan Fox!) and introduced them in short skits. This could become a holiday tradition! Thanks to all who joined us.
Evan Hause's "melancholia"
New Jersey-based composer Evan Hause recently undertook an unusual composition project: he assembled a new piece in the studio from individual parts recorded and emailed to him by performer-friends from all around the country! The players, myself included, used a tuner and a metronome to ensure compatibility -- and I'm sure Evan employed some studio magic to make sure everything blends and sounds good together! The new piece, Melancholia, which includes a shredding guitar solo played by the composer, received its "world premiere" on Dec. 2, 2016, in a podcast from Utrecht, in The Netherlands. To listen and read more about it, please click here.
Savvy chamber competition announces $10,000 prize
Each June, the University of South Carolina hosts the Savvy Arts Venture Challenge (formerly the Savvy Musician in Action Workshop), led by our music entrepreneurship professor David Cutler. I help run an affiliated competition that evaluates both artistic excellence and innovative event design, as a way to acknowledge and award ensembles that are helping rethink and transform the classical concert experience. This year the prize is BIG: $10,000 and a residency at the University of South Carolina, plus the option of management. Interested ensembles, please read more and apply online here. The application deadline is Feb. 15, 2017.
