Arundo Organaque, Cary Ebli, English horn, and Timothy Robson, organ, gave its debut recital on September 21, 1986, at Euclid Avenue Congregational Church in Cleveland, Ohio. The program included the Partita, Op. 41, No. 1, by Dutch composer Jan Koetsier, the Parable XV, for solo English horn, Op. 128, of Vincent Persichetti, and Calvin Hampton's Variations on "Amazing Grace". Family members of the late Ohio-raised Mr. Hampton were in attendance. The program concluded with the first performance of Without Words by Cleveland composer Thomas Massella. (Some readers may remember Mr. Massella's Pieces of April, for oboe and English horn, which was warmly received when performed by Cary and oboist Robert Driscoll at the 1986 I.D.R.S. Conference.)

Additional concerts by Arundo Organaque were given at Cleveland's Trinity Cathedral and Hiram Christian Church; future recitals are scheduled at the Lutheran Church of the Covenant in Maple Heights, Ohio, and St. Paul's Episcopal Cathedral in Buffalo, New York. "Arundo Organaque" is derived from the Latin terms for "reed" and "organ, 11 literally, "Reeds and Organs." Cary Ebli is a student at the Cleveland Institute of Music in the class of John Mack and a faculty member of the Eastern Music Festival in Greensboro, North Carolina. Timothy Robson serves as Director of Music at the Euclid Avenue Congregational Church in Cleveland.

John deLancie, one of the world's foremost oboists and former director of' the Curtis Institute of Music, has been named founding dean of music at Miami's New World School of the Arts. A native of Berkeley, California, he was accepted as a student at the Curtis Institute at the age of fifteen to study with the great French oboist, Marcel Tabuteau. Upon graduation in 1940 he served as solo oboist of the Pittsburgh Symphony and as a member of the Robin Hood Dell Orchestra, the summer series of the Philadelphia Orchestra. In 1946, after service in the U.S. Army, he was appointed associate solo oboe in the Philadelphia Orchestra under Eugene Ormandy, and after the retirement of Tabuteau in 1954, he assumed the position of solo oboe. He held that post until 1977. Mr. deLancie has enjoyed a long and productive association with the Curtis Institute of Music. He has been a student, teacher and, from 1977 to 1985, was the school's director. He received the Honorary Doctor of Music degree from Curtis in 1980. The New World School of the Arts, a high school and college for the performing and visual arts, opened in the fall of 1987. It will offer degrees in music, visual arts, film and video, dance and theater from the high school sophomore to the college master's level.

Barbara Lafitte has joined the faculty of the University of Rhode Island at Kingston. She has been principal oboist of the Rhode Island Philharmonic since 1984, and in addition performs in Boston with various groups including Cantata Singers, Boston Classical Orchestra, and the New England Woodwind Quintet. She studied with Louis Rosenblatt, and has performed at the Aspen, Tanglewood, and Spoleto Festivals.

Andrew N. White III, oboist, composer, and publisher, of Washington, D.C. had two of his works receive world premieres in the winter of 1987. His jazz Miniatures for Oboe and Piano was performed by Rebecca Staup, oboist and Nancy Breth, pianist at the Woman's National Democratic Club in Washington, D.C. on March 2, 1987. This concert, called "the jazz Connection" included works of jean-Michel Damase, Alec Wilder, and Leonard Bernstein. On February 27 White's Theme and Variations for woodwind quintet was premiered by the

Prince William Symphony Orchestra Woodwind Quintet at a concert in honor of Black History Month, in Woodbridge, Virginia.

A program featuring the oboe in chamber music was presented by oboist Lorrie Berkshire on November 23, 1986 at the Hubbard Recital Hall, Manhattan School of Music, New York. Assisting artists included CARRIE VECCHIONE, English horn, and ANDREA HERR, bassoon. The program included J.S. Bach's Trio Sonata, BWV 1039, Ten Blake Songs by Vaughan Williams, Stravinsky's Pastorale, and the Mozart Sinfonia Concertante. Lorrie Berkshire holds the Master of Music degree from the Manhattan School and has performed with the American Chamber Orchestra, the New York Concertino Ensemble, and the National Orchestra of New York.

William Waterhouse has sent along results of the oboe competition held in Prague in 1986. The jury included Ladislav Kubik (Czechoslovakia) president, Jurgen Abel (East Germany), Andre Chevalet (France), Ludmila Jezova (Czechoslovakia), Andre Lardrot (Switzerland), Reinhard Luttmann (France), Jiri Mihule (Czechoslovakia), Kiril Mikoneuk (USSR), and Georgia Zeljazov (Bulgaria). Liberia Sequardtova of Czechoslovakia was first prize winner. Second prize was shared by Simon Fuchs of Switzerland and Dusan Foltyn of Czechoslovakia; third prize was shared by Jean-Louis Capezzali of France and Emanuel Abbuhl of Switzerland.

Stuart Dunkel presented a recital of music for oboe and strings at the Weill Recital Hall of Carnegie Hall in New York City on February 14, 1987. The program included Telemann's Concerto in E Minor, Albinoni's Concerto in D Minor, Pedro Soler's Souvenir de Madrid, and the New York premiere of Mr. Dunkel's composition Colors. Quoting from Gwendolyn Haverstock's review: "Both baroque pieces came across with melifluous ease... the rendition was unpushed and natural... the ornamentation seemed almost unpremeditated. The result was music making in the truest sense. The Souvenir de Madrid (originally for oboe and piano, here arranged by Mr. Dunkel for oboe and strings)... brings together technical virtuosity and lyrical bel canto style... here the tone was lush and supple, the fingers adroit. Mr. Dunkel's own work, a four movement piece entitled Colors was the evening's highlight. Designed to depict emotions and their interrelatedness to colors, these little "sketches" were original and highly amusing. The emotions were conveyed subtly and with infinite nuance. At times playful, at times somber, the music was always in motion. In this work Mr. Dunkel's playing was at its best, bursting with character and vitality. "

A consortium grant has been awarded by the National Endowment for the Arts to Thomas Stacy, Humbert Lucarelli and James Ostryniec to support the commissioning of three new works as follows:

Gunther Schuller: New Work for English Horn and String Quartet

Conrad Susa: New Work for Oboe and Harpsichord

Ross Lee Finney: New Work for Oboe and Percussion

Under the terms of the grant, the three performers must program each of the new works twice.

The California Double Reed Quartet presented a Mozart's birthday concert on February 1, 1987 in the Mission San Luis Obispo. Members of the quartet are Stuart Horn, oboe; Marsha Taylor, oboe d'amore; Electra Reed, English horn; and Ron Grun, bassoon. Their program included works of Brahms, the Wenth Quartetto Concertante (the only piece on the program originally for double reed quartet), Mozart and Prokofiev. Judith Musafia's glowing review mentioned the group's "fine sound and great sensitivity of articulation; good balance allowed each instrument to speak well during solo passages... all in all a fine recital, with many moments of transcendent musicality."

Table of Contents