The Birth of a Piece

The commissioning of new music for the bassoon has been one of the most rewarding aspects of my career.
There are many exciting parts to this process:

• choosing the composer -- often a friend who's music you admire
• working with the composer through the development of the piece
• receiving the finished product -- like Christmas Day!
• performing and promoting the new piece  

I have gone through this process many times. The last project resulted in my CD, "Nostalgica", which contains four pieces I commissioned.  

The result was extremely gratifying: music that pushed the boundaries of classical music, joining it with jazz and blues. It stretched my abilities and pushed my playing to a new level.

Just last week I received the first draft of a new piece I've commissioned from Margaret Griebling-Haigh.  Margi is a composer, oboist and professional music copyist and editor.

The piece, "Sortilège", is for bassoon and piano. The purpose for the commission is two-fold. I will premiere the work at the 2011 International Double Reed Society Conference this June in Tempe, Arizona. The piece will also be required repertoire for the next Meg Quigley Vivaldi Competition.