Seventh Annual Fernand Gillet Performance Competition Report

William D. Davis

Chairman, Gillet Competition


Fourteen bassoonists entered the Seventh Annual Gillet Performance Competition by sending tape recordings for the preliminary audition. Eleven participants were from the United States, and three were from England, France, and Sweden. The required selections on the tapes were the first and second movements of the Fasch Sonata in C Major and the Persichetti Parable for Solo Bassoon. The preliminary audition judges were:

Mark Apfelstadt - University of North Carolina at Greensboro

Alan Hawkins - University of Kansas

Wendal Jones - Eastern Washington University

The judges chose the following to be semifinalists:

Dan D'Andrea - Itasca, Illinois

Bernard Kolle
- Eaubonne, France

Magnus Nilsson - Kungalv, Sweden

Roger A. Nye - Fennville, Michigan

Mark W. Rogers - DeKalb, Illinois

The semifinal audition was held on August 17, 1987 before a panel of judges in open concert at the Sixteenth Annual Conference of the International Double Reed Society at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. The work performed was the Persichetti Parable for Solo Bassoon. The panel of judges for the semifinal and final auditions consisted of:

Sol Schoenbach - Philadelphia Orchestra, retired

Alan Goodman - Los Angeles Philharmonic

Yoshiyuki Nakanishi - Nagoya Philharmonic, Japan

Rufus Olivier - San Francisco Opera.

Alexandre Ouzounoff - Ecole Nationale de Musique d'Evreux, France

Christopher Weait - Ohio State University

The judges selected Bernard Kolle, Roger Nye, and Mark Rogers to participate in the final audition. The finals were held on August 19 before the panel of judges and the I.D.R.S. membership. The work performed was the Gordon Jacob Concerto for Bassoon, second and third movements. On the basis of this audition, the judges awarded prizes as follows:


First Prize, $800 - BERNARD KOLLE

Second Prize (tie), $250 - ROGER NYE Second Prize (tie), $250 - MARK ROGERS

Thanks are extended to all of the competition judges, who served without financial compensation. Thanks also go to Dr. Yoshiyuki Ishikawa, the 1987 conference host, and the members of his fine staff, who were extremely helpful in making competition arrangements. Special thanks are extended to Ms. Elissa Stutz, the piano accompanist for the final auditions. Ms. Stutz' willingness to spend extra hours rehearsing with the contestants contributed enormously to the success of the competition.

Next year's Gillet Competition will be for oboists only. The semifinal and final auditions will be held at the Seventeenth Annual I.D.R.S. Conference at the University of Victoria, British Columbia on August 8-12, 1988. Further information and an application form may be found elsewhere in this issue of The Double Reed.


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