I will be returning to Toronto once a month in the coming year to give lessons and workshops, and gathering bassoonists to introduce some of the Canadian Concerti that I have been involved with in the last several years. I will be working from the East End United Church near the Chester subway.
I am devoting this season to teaching those who want lessons and developing 11 of the many Canadian concerti that were either written for me (Lussier’s Oddbird and Ophélie, Frehner’s Apollo X, Carravassilis’ Silver Angel, Oickle’s squeezed through wood) or revived by me (Morehead’s Come Dance with Me, Imant Raminsh, Ruth Lomon), plus two that I’ve wanted to learn (Ana Sokolovic and Jean Coulthard) and Sofia Eckhardt-Grammatté’s concerto (mostly because it has been around for so long and so few people learn it AND we need more concerti by women) along with 24 the 39 Vivaldi Concerti (we will do the remaining 15 concerti next season!). Note that I am pairing women and men Canadian composers. In the workshops, I will give the background and living history of the bassoon concerti, and discuss creativity in general in connection with learning this music. We will also hear from other living soloists who premiered the concerti, and from the living conductors, some in-person, others via ZOOM, about the circumstances surrounding the creation of this valuable music. Contrast this with the lack of concrete history surrounding the 37 + 2 unfinished glorious concerti by Vivaldi. . . it would be nice to know the stories, but in the end, it is the music that speaks for all of us.
Any other bassoonists who wish to research and prepare these works are welcome to present. These sessions will be announced as I go, and non-bassoonists are welcome to attend.
I will also lead some freehand reedmaking sessions to demonstrate my freehand reedmaking techniques and skill.
And I will lead a Solitary Refinement class introducing the many exercises in my bassoon technique book.
If you need a copy of Solitary Refinement, here’s the link. And if you want to participate in the freehand reedmaking and need a freehand easel, go here!
If you want to book a lesson, write to me and we can see if my dates work for you.
Here is the repertoire I’ll be working on in the next 12 months. Let me know if you want to participate and need help locating any of the music. I am waiting to hear back from the library where the Vivaldi manuscripts are housed to see if we can still access the original concerti free of charge.
BASSOON CONCERT (CANADIAN COMPOSERS & VIVALDI) for 2023/24
Oddbird Concerto by Mathieu Lussier – available from Trevco
Come Dance With Me the Dance of Life by Patricia Morehead – available from composer and Canadian Music Centre
Concerto No. 1 in B flat La Notte, RV. 501, Vivaldi
Concerto No. 37 in G Major, RV. ___, Vivaldi
Le Dernier Chant d’Ophélie by Mathieu Lussier – available from TrevCo
Lyric Symphony No. III by Jean Coulthard – available from Kevin Harris & CMC
Concerto No. 2 in A Minor, RV. 498, Vivaldi
Concerto No. 36 in B Flat Major, RV. 504, Vivaldi
Squeezed through wood by Lucas Oickle – available from composer
Concerto by Ana Sokolovic – available from Boosey & Hawkes & SMCQ
Concerto No. 3 in C Major, RV 478, Vivaldi
Concerto No 35 in B Flat Major, RV. 503, Vivaldi
Concerto by Ruth Lomon – available from Lianne Curtis
Apollo X by Paul Frehner – available from
Concerto No. 4 in C Major, RV 474, Vivaldi
Concerto No 34 in C Major, RV 471, Vivaldi
Come Dance With Me the Dance of Life by Pat Morehead – available from composer & CMC
Silver Angel by Constantine Caravassilis – available from composer
Concerto No. 5 in D minor, RV 481, Vivaldi
Concerto No. 33 in C Major, RV 470, Vivaldi
Concerto by Sofia Eckhardt-Grammatté – available from CMC
Concerto (The Rattler) by Imant Raminsh – available from Kevin Harris
Concerto No. 6 in E minor, RV 484, Vivaldi
Concerto No. 32 in F Major, RV 490, Vivaldi
