A contrabassoon recital featuring new works commissioned by Kyle Sodman.

In the early-to-mid twentieth century, neoclassicism became a widely used compositional technique by composers throughout the world. This style was largely perpetuated through the teachings of Nadia Boulanger. Polish composer, Grazyna Bacewicz studied with Boulanger in Paris before returning to Poland to help create and solidify a national Polish style of composition. Similarly, Canadian composer, Jean Coulthard studied with Boulanger before returning to Canada and becoming one of the most well-known Canadian composers during her lifetime. Both composers use elements of neoclassicism such as balanced forms, tonalities, and clear texture, incorporating them into their own musical languages. These two works, separated by only eight years, exemplify the versatility of neoclassicism in the twentieth century, connecting two composers with very unique compositional voices through a common thread from opposite ends of the Atlantic.

Ukrainian composers historically, especially female have been underrepresented in classical music due to the oppression and censorship throughout history. This has resulted in Ukrainian composers being unable to be performed outside of their native organizations. My recital aims to introduce the world to a variety of styles currently flourishing in Ukraine by 4 different female Ukrainian composers from neoclassical, folklorism, and avant-garde. All of the works being performed are getting published in the spring 2026 by Éditions Plamondon as part of their Slava Ukraini Series. This recital will also feature two world premieres of newly composed pieces dedicated to me by Olena Arkhypova (living in Dnipro) and Nadya Poklad (recently moved to Canada from occupied Luhansk). Therefore, this recital is a gateway to introduce these new and hardly performed Ukrainian works to hopefully create more interest in Ukrainian music worldwide.

Jean-Michel Damase wrote prolifically for the oboe in the 20th century, employing his unique compositional style in several solo and chamber works. However, overshadowed by his Paris Conservatory contemporaries, his works are rarely performed today, leaving listeners with few opportunities to hear them. The selected pieces showcase his works’ musical and pedagogical value for the oboe community. His Rhapsodie pour Hautbois et Piano displays unique challenges for the soloist, requiring extreme technical and timbral control for an effective performance. His Trio pour flute, hautbois et piano, performed by E/221, includes similar challenges, while also adding the distinctive flute timbre, allowing players to explore Damase’s compositional language in a chamber setting. Through this recital, we hope to inspire audience members to explore the works of Damase, to appreciate his distinctive soundscapes, and acknowledge the pedagogical value in his oboe music.

A recital featuring a world premiere of my own original work for electric bassoon. This funk-inspired, multi-movement work for bassoon and live effects incorporates distortion, delay, looper, and octave effects. The piece is accessible to play, and requires minimal equipment. The music is reminiscent of minimalist composers Steve Reich and Philip Glass, and modern artists Trent Reznor and The Mars Volta.

Tonight’s programme traces human, musical, and migratory journeys through three works by once-overlooked or emerging composers. Georgia Scott’s Flyways follows the routes of birds whose movements echo stories of migration and belonging. For oboist Myfanwy Price, the work is personal: her family’s paths from Trinidad, Britain, and Durban mirror the barn swallow’s vast arc, while calls of the red-eyed dove, woodland kingfisher, bar-tailed godwit, Australian magpie, kookaburra, and nightingale shape its vivid sound world. Scott’s own journey from Sydney to London and back south is also reflected in these birds.

Samuel Coleridge-Taylor’s Silhouettes Op. 38, arranged with sensitivity for oboe and piano by Katherine Needleman, restores attention to a composer once celebrated but later marginalised. Its three character pieces—Tambourine, Lament, and Valse—reveal the lyrical warmth of a voice now enjoying revival.

Pasculli’s virtuosic Concerto sopra motivi dell’opera “La Favorita” closes the programme, showcasing bel canto brilliance from the “Paganini of the oboe.” Based on the opening theme of Donizetti’s opera, it unfolds in dazzling variations and cadenzas that display the instrument’s full technical range. Long dismissed as frivolous after the composer’s death, Pasculli’s works returned to the stage in the late twentieth century through champions such as Heinz Holliger.

This recital explores the concepts of life, loss, love, and memory, through the works of three musically diverse composers. Written in memory of oboist Charles Hamann’s mother, “For life, for love”, by the Canadian composer Christian Ellenwood, is a beautiful and heartfelt musical meditation on a mother’s or mother figure’s gift of life and love. Marina Dranishnikova’s Poem, allegedly inspired by heartbreak, is a a deeply expressive and poignant reflection on grief that follows a loss. The concluding work, Antonio Pasculli’s lesser performed “Ricordo di Napoli (Memory of Naples)”, offers a contrasting musical experience, showcasing the operatic and virtuosic side of the oboe while allowing us to reflect joyfully on our own heritage and memories of travels abroad or times gone by.

Having played the bassoon for 60 years, I’ve chosen these works to offer a special message, and as a result I’ve titled the recital “Remembrance and Prayer.” The first and last works presented today were written for me. Souvenirs was written in 2025 by Liliya Ugay, who immigrated from Uzbekistan and teaches composition at FSU in Tallahassee, FL. She and I had met while she was a DMA student in composition in the Yale School of Music. Prayer was written by Sri Lankan-born Nirmali Fenn, who grew up in Australia after being adopted into a family there. We met as faculty colleagues at SUNY Stony Brook where she also teaches composition.

Dr. Ugay wrote Souvenirs as a result of a conversation we had about my sense of fulfillment after a lifetime in music. Dr. Fenn wrote Prayer in 2022 for me in reaction to a succession of world crises. It is a prayer for peace. The bassoonist is required to imitate the style of the duduk with jaw vibrato and occasional pitch bends. In addition to harmonics, various alternate fingerings are employed to create a spectrum of tone qualities on a given pitch. At the end of the work, the pianist places a prayer bowl in the piano to create additional evocative effects. In between, we will offer lieder from Schumann’s Dichterliebe. Thus, I hope to share my gratitude for a life in music, my dedication to singing on our beloved bassoon, and finally, a prayer for peace.

Our program for IDRS 2026 illustrates a wide spectrum of possibilities for the oboe and bassoon as both individual instruments and as a duo. Inspired by nature, solitude, and union, these pieces take the listener on a journey from darkness to light. The program begins with Lera Auerbach’s Air ‘I Walk Unseen’ for bassoon and piano. A musical depiction of contemplation and solitude, the work borrows its name from John Milton’s poem “Il Penseroso.” Stephen Beck’s Cape Town Starlet takes its inspiration from a Red-Winged Starling that serenaded the composer on a trip to South Africa. The performer interacts with recordings of the bird throughout the work, and live electronics blur and transform the sounds of the two partners. We close the program with a new piece by composer Mara Gibson, which celebrates the union of two voices becoming one through the exploration of unique timbres for oboe and bassoon.

This recital presents contemporary solo and electroacoustic works by leading female Mexican composers whose innovative contributions have significantly expanded the oboe repertoire. By showcasing their distinct artistic voices, the program aims to highlight an underrepresented area of contemporary oboe literature and promote broader recognition of Mexican composers in professional performance settings.

The Blue Spruce Duo is excited to present two world premieres in this recital. These pieces are part of a project to commission (and eventually record) a series of works by openly queer and neurodivergent composers. This project aims to raise greater awareness of the art of queer and neurodivergent composers and provide younger musicians with the opportunity to see themselves reflected in the music they listen to/play.

En Garde! presents an exploration of the innovative capabilities and expressive range within duo repertoire for the oboe. These works showcase the interplay between oboe and English horn, highlighting the evolving identity of these instruments beyond the orchestral sphere, and the dialogue which composers of varying backgrounds explore in their additions to the duo canon.

A recital of repertoire for oboe and piano composed by Czech women composers. The program will consist of two works: Pastviny (Meadows) by Jitka Snížková and Sonata pro hoboj a klavir by Olga Jírková. This program showcases the Czech musical culture in the 20th-century and brings to light two underrepresented composers. The Czech musical tradition is rich, with well-known composers like Smetana, Dvořák, and Martinů writing national music and representing Czech culture on a world stage. Czech music is characterized with folk elements, nationalistic elements, and invoking imagery of the Czech countryside. At the turn of the 20th-century there were many Czech composers who continued to build on this musical tradition who have been overlooked. Through this program I hope to create a broader understanding of the Czech cultural and musical landscape and give a voice to these underrepresented composers.