Hary Schweizer
The son of German immigrants in the south of Brazil, Mr. Schweizer first studied the bassoon with Gustav Busch and in the 1970s went on to study in Germany. In 1977, he returned to Brazil as Bassoon Professor at Universidade de Brasília, where he was responsible not only for the bassoon class, but also taught music history and chamber music. Over more than twenty years, his bassoon studio grew and flourished, and many of Mr. Schweizer’s pupils became professional bassoonists, holding positions in Brazil, Uruguay, Germany, Israel, Canada and the USA.
As a founding member and Principal Bassoonist of the Orquestra Sinfônica do Teatro Nacional Cláudio Santoro, he performed some of the standard concerti for bassoon. He also recorded chamber and solo works by Brazilian composers Cláudio Santoro, Marlos Nobre and Emílio Terraza, and lately, in 2005, released a CD of solo works. His contribution to the Brazilian concert music scene is undeniable.
In a country where bassoons are even scarcer than aspiring bassoonists, for economical reasons among others, Mr. Schweizer embarked on a journey of researching Brazilian woods, bassoon measurements, instrument-making tools, woodworking, metalworking and welding techniques in order to start affordable bassoons. His first instrument, the first bassoon ever made on Brazilian territory, was ready to be played in 1991. Since then, he has handcrafted one instrument per year on average, from scratch and all by himself, and has become one of Brazil’s most sought-after bassoon repairmen.
In the early 2000s, as the internet grew popular and accessible in Brazil, Mr. Schweizer launched his own website, named "Portal do Fagote'', along with a mailing list and online forum. Over the past two decades, the Bassoon Portal has been an online space where professional bassoonists, amateurs and students share plenty of information, academic research, reviews of performances and recordings, news and tidbits of the bassoon world in a light-hearted fashion. The Portal was certainly a great inspiration and starting point for the creation of the Brazilian Double Reed Association, and this is one of the reasons why we consider Mr. Schweizer to be a pillar of double-reed culture in Brazil.
Mr. Schweizer, as a performer, teacher, instrument maker and an inspiration to all bassoonists in Brazil, is a truly accomplished artist and a generous, wonderful human being. Through instrument-making, teaching, playing and networking, he has lit the way for many students to thrive in their musical path and has facilitated communication between all the bassoonists in Brazil.
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