A special mailing of the proposed changes and amendments to the IDRS Constitution was sent to the membership in December, 1973, along with the first of a series of Interim Reports designed to maintain essential contact on IDRS between the newsletters and the Journal. The IDRS officers look forward to receiving your ratification vote on the entire Constitution for tabulation after February 15, 1974. (Members joining IDRS after Jan. 1, 1974 did not receive this ratification and report.)
The second annual meeting of the IDRS was held at Augustana College, Sioux Falls, South Dakota, on August 20 and 21, 1973. With Richard Rath (oboist and IDRS program chairman) and Leland Lillehaug (bassoonist and Augustana Music Department Chairman) hosting a superbly organized conference, those members attending enjoyed two days of fine performances, informational papers and demonstrations, and good fellowship. In the two short business meetings of the society, 1973 President Arthur Norris maintained a very cordial and efficient pace to accomplish both election of the 1974 officers and a complex amendment of the IDRS Constitution. The names and addresses of the new officers and a report from past President Arthur Norris appear in following articles of this issue.
Guest speakers included Wilma Zonn, oboist, who aptly demonstrated most of the new sounds for woodwinds in "Problems in Performance of Contemporary (avant garde) Literature;" Donald Munsell, Professor of Music at Southern Mississippi University, who covered (and displayed) a very wide range of solo bassoon material in "Selected Literature for the bassoon;" John Mack, solo oboe of the Cleveland Orchestra, who gave a most welcome and instructional talk on "Effective Guidance for the Young Oboist;" Alan Fox and Richard Tienviri (of Fox Products, Inc.), who dramatically demonstrated for us the tonal advantages of "Souping for Sound" -- or correctly adjusting tone hole size to improve a bassoon's tonal efficiency; Dr. Arthur Benade (of Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland), cautioning us not to "soup" our own instruments without knowing the effects which also take place in other parts of the scale, and illustrating several important relationships between double reed instruments, the bocal, the interior cavity of our reeds, and the player, all cooperating to make woodwind tone possible, in his talk, "Acoustics of Conical Woodwinds;" Blaine Edlefsen, professor of oboe at the University of Illinois, who discussed and performed examples of interesting "Small Ensembles for Oboe and or English Horn" (aided by Stuart Mitchell and Bob Probasco); and Bradford Buckley, contra bassoonist of the St. Louis Symphony, who explained some of the minor mysteries of this most-abused of double reed orchestral instruments.
In evening sessions IDRS members enjoyed a preview showing of Don Christlieb's new film (for television broadcasting) on bassoon reed-making, and a screening of Blaine Edlefsen's film, "Making the American Scrape Oboe Reed." On the first nights program was "Dialogue" by Franz Furrer for oboe and clarinet (new music) played by Wilma Zonn, oboe and her husband, Paul Zonn, clarinet, "Impromptu for Contra Bassoon" written by Ralph Nicholas for Valentine Kennedy of London, given its North American premiere by Cornellia Anderson Biggers, and David Beyer, piano; and a fascinating piece for English Horn and recorded tape, "One Into Another (Ariel)" by William Hellerman. Without intending criticism, this composition sounded to me like English Horn against World War II (!). The second evening's program included "Statement" for unaccompanied contra bassoon, by James Meyer, played by Bradford Buckley; and Vincze Imre's "Sonata" (1965) for bassoon. Members also enjoyed many informal talking and playing get-togethers and were given a social evening hosted by members exhibiting instruments at the conference. We wish to thank Richard Rath especially for his hard work and effortlessly smooth handling of all arrangements for IDRS.