The first order of business this issue is to apologize to Mr. Leonard Sharrow and the members of the bassoon section of the Pittsburgh Symphony for my completely garbled account of the recent changes in personnel! It is not Mr. Sharrow who is retiring but Arthur Kubey, co-principal of the orchestra. He is being replaced by Nancy Goeres, (This is her professional name - not Beiro as reported.) who is joining the PSO for the 1984-85 season as coprincipal. I hope all members concerned will accept my deepest apology for the inaccuracies of my previous report.
The second order is to announce the date changes for the IDRS Congress at the University of Colorado to August 12-15, 1985. Originally they had been from the 19th thru the 22nd. According to a recent conversation with host chairman, Bob Olson, it would appear that the conference is shaping up very well. I hope you'll all plan on "coming to the mountains" next August.
It has been just recently learned that the prizes awarded at the International Bassoon Competition in Munich in September were the following:
Second Prize - Sylvain Lhuissier, France
Second Prize - Dag Jensen, Norway
Third Prize - Holger Straube, East Germany
There was no first prize awarded. There is a complete report of the competition
in this issue of the Double Reed.
Bassoonist/Administrator Joseph Polisi has recently been named President of the Julliard School, one of America's foremost conservatories of music, dance and theater. Mr. Polisi, who is 36 years old, will assume his duties at the beginning of the 1984-85 academic year. For the last year, he has been Dean of the CollegeConservatory of Music at the University of Cincinnati, and for three years before that he was Dean of the faculty at the Manhattan School of Music. He holds a Doctor of Musical Arts degree from Yale. Mr. Polisi's appointment breaks a nearly 40-year tradition at Julliard of having a prominent composer as President. William Schuman held a post from 1945 to 1962, when he was succeeded by Peter Mennin, who died on June 17, 1983. Mr. Polisi has also written numerous articles on the education of the performing artist. He is the son of the late William Polisi, former principal bassoonist of the New York Philharmonic and a Julliard faculty member for 25 years.
Besides Mr. Polisi's appointment at Julliard another bassoonist has also been chosen to head Wayne State University's music department - Peter J. Schoenbach. Schoenbach, a friend of Polisi, is also the son of a bassoonist, and like Polisi, has a degree in international relations. As for their managerial skills, Dr. Schoenbach thinks it has something to do with the fact that bassoonists have to use their thumbs so much. Schoenbach comes to Wayne State from Boston, where he was acting director of the School of Music at Boston University. He has played with the Philadelphia and Minnesota orchestras and has edited several publications, including Prokofiev's memoirs and a guide to writings about classical Brazilian music.
The IDRS congratulates the two distinguished artists in their successful rise to such prominent positions in the musical world. Who says bassoonists can't be something besides the proverbial orchestral clowns?!!
And from Peter Schoenbach's father, Sol Schoenbach (himself a distinguished bassoonist/administrator), comes the answer to the circumstances surrounding the composition of the Adagio in F Major for bassoon and piano by Ludwig (or Louis) Spohr. It had been known that Spohr had written it for some famous bassoonist's birthday, but Dr. Schoenbach had been unable to find out further information for years. Recently, however, he acquired a manuscript copy of the work from the music of Adolph Gutter and the frontispiece contains the long sought information. Spohr wrote the work for his "friend", Friedrich Thomas, on the occasion of his birthday, October 28th, 1817. Thank you, Sol, for that fascinating bit of scholarship!
[Select figure to enlarge]
Bassoonists Milan Turkovic and Otto Eifert have been active giving master classes recently. Milan worked with the students at Boston University in February and Otto did a three day reed seminar with the bassoons of the Curtis Institute in March.
One of those Curtis students was bassoonist David McGill, who was recently named one of the five Young Instrumentalists Competition winners by Philadelphia Radio Station WFLN. The winners presented a series of live recitals over WFLN on Wednesdays from March 7 thru May 2. David, you will recall, was the 1983 winner of the IDRS Performance Competition. Besides David, one of the other WFLN winners, limited this year to wind and brass players, was oboist, Kathleen Schietoma, 25, who was second place finisher in the 1982 IDRS Oboe Performance Competition. Congratulations to both David and Kathleen with their continued successes. It makes us feel good in the IDRS to know that we have perhaps helped contribute in some small way to the promotion of talented young oboists and bassoonists of the future.
News has been received that Mr. William Waterhouse of London has recently been granted a Leverhulme Trust Award to assist in his preparation of' the completely revised 7th edition of the late Lyndesay Langwill's Index of Musical Wind Instrument Makers. This will be good news to all organologist members of IDRS!
There is an excellent new movie out from the Disney Studios called "Never Cry Wolf", about, of all things, an amateur bassoonist who takes off for the wilds of' Alaska (with his bassoon) to study the ways of the wolf! Besides being a marvelous story about the relationship of' man and the natural world, the scenery and the music are hauntingly beautiful. The sound track features the bassoon playing of Rufus Olivier, first bassoonist of the San Francisco Opera Orchestra. Rufus is a student of' Ray Nowlin and David Breidenthal, and a former member of the San Francisco Symphony. The beautiful musical score is by Bay- Area composer, Mark Isham, who scored it for bamboo flute, glass harmonica (a la Mozart), strings, and women's chorus, besides the bassoon. Don't miss it. It's a must for everyone - bassoonists and lovers of wildlife alike!
After a year's Sabbatical leave in New York, Robert Barris has resumed his duties as bassoon teacher at Central Michigan University and the Interlochen Arts Academy. He is also currently teaching bassoon at Northwestern University in Evanston. This past summer Bob performed with the Swarmanoa Chamber Players in North Carolina, and Fontana Ensemble in Shelbyville, Michigan, and lectured on bassoon repair at the Miller/Skinner Bassoon Symposium at Towson State University.
And, finally in closing, it is a pleasure to write of another bassoonist's success story. Most musicians are well aware of Frank Ruggieri's prowess as a bassoonist: 23 years with the New York Philharmonic until his retirement from there in 1972. But equally important is his 55 year association with the Ocean City, New Jersey, Summer Pops Orchestra - first as bassoonist in 1929, then as business manager from 1933 and, finally, as conductor since 1978. It was a career that was literally thrust upon him. He was in the Ocean City Orchestra as player on August 6, 1978 when conductor John Warrington became ill.
"Somebody had to finish the concert," he remembers. "I had never held a baton in my life. It was strange to me." That evening Ruggieri picked up the waiting baton and began a new career. Since Warrington was too ill to continue as musical director, Ruggieri finished the season as conductor of the orchestra and his leadership of the orchestra has continued to the present day.
On September 5th of this year Frank Ruggieri received a letter from President of the United States, Ronald Reagan, congratulating him for "... your fifty-five years of bringing countless happy hours of good music to the summer vacationers in Ocean City, New Jersey. "
The IDRS echoes President Reagan's congratulations to the long and distinguished career of bassoonist/conductor, Frank Ruggieri.