This past Saturday was UW-Madison’s annual Double Reed Day. We had two guest artists: Carol Cope Lowe (bassoon) and Anna Hendrickson (oboe), who in addition to currently teaching at SUNY-Potsdam are both UW-Madison alumnae. Most members of the UW double reed studios were there, and we had another 25 or so middle school, high, school, and community players as well. I arrived a little early so I could play some of the bassoons and bocals that Midwest Musical Imports had sent along. One instrument they sent was the twin of my Püchner 5000C. I was happy to find that it was both my favorite instrument out of the bunch, and roughly equivalent to my own. Also, its price tag was substantially higher than what I paid two years ago — woohoo!
The day officially started with a concert — all we UW students played an ensemble piece, then each professor (the two visitors, plus our own Marc Vallon and Marc Fink) performed a solo work. Following the concert, we split off into oboe and bassoon masterclasses. We all came back together for a big double reed ensemble (pictured above) to play Marc Vallon’s arrangements of “The Washington Post,” Hungarian Dance No. 5, and “Sabre Dance,” as well as the first movement of Handel’s Music for the Royal Fireworks.
I only managed to take a few pictures, as I was busy playing contrabassoon much of the time. I’ve posted them here.
