Articulation

Over the past few weeks I have been collecting information to write a booklet for young modern bassoonists who are beginning to look at early repertoire for the instrument. I began work on this project when it was recently announced that I would be the historical bassoonist on staff at the Brooke Valley Bassoon Days in Lanark County, Ontario, this August (unfortunately, due to scheduling I wasn't able to get on the poster below...). It will be a great opportunity to talk to young musicians and shape their inquiry into the area of early music without the baggage which comes with learning a new instrument.

Tempers Flare

Below is a  response to Richard Todd’s “Temper Temper”, an article published in April. This response was submitted not more than a few days after Todd's article was published, but I only received confirmation this week that it did not fit the submission guidelines of the same publication. Therefore I have copied it in full for you below.

‘Baroque’ is a word which all music students are familiar with. Indeed, even since Mr. Todd’s school days have teachers introduced a music history course centered on the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries with the definition of barocco. Literally taken, it means ‘a deformed pearl’. It wasn’t something anyone in the eighteenth century wanted attributed to their work either, but, though I dare not shout too loud, I believe there is something to be learned about ourselves from it.

Out with a Bang

Tonight marks the last of four performances of Handel's Music for the Royal Fireworks with Ensemble Zefiro. In a very much royal affair, Wednesday night saw four thousand people descend on the palace gardens of Versailles to witness a fireworks show synchronized to Handel's classic. Needless to say, they got what they paid for.