Bassoon With a View

Ohhhh bassoon!  Despite all the low brass jokes, percussion harassment, and perplexed looks from flute players, the commercial value of bassoon has been BLOWIN' UP! Have you seen these? Follow this FB link to a hilarious Hulu commercial:  https://www.facebook.com/hulu/videos/1482704455455940 A young bassoonist and her poor mom trying to earn that last, sweet, ooey-gooey roll: I don't even know WHAT IS HAPPENING in this one but I want to buy a VW: "You don't have to be a talented bassoonist..." bassoonist = genius Somewhere there is an arthritis commercial featuring a bassoonist.  I will have to find it and post later. Now there is this whole indie, singer-songwriter trend happening.  And of course bassoon is the go-to instrument when trying to break into that market. And how can we possibly forget all the amazing media around Rainn Wilson "The Bassoon King". A short film about creative joy (through reed making): A hilarious v

One of the advantages of being a musician, like a public school teacher, is the opportunity to spend summers finding projects/work to inspire, learn, and grow .  Last summer, I took on the task of launching a successful fundraising campaign for the Chinook Winds .  Many musicians will find a home in various festival orchestras, returning year after year to make music in wonderful surroundings with a different set of colleagues.  Other musicians fill various music camps tucked away in woods and on lakes all over the world; teaching and mentoring young musicians at every level.   This summer, in addition to moving to a new city and preparing to start a whole new adventure in academia, I have discovered myself in a most exciting project: The Ken Moses project.  (Title in progress.) This undertaking is a new tab on my blog and a whole new chapter in my life.   Ken Moses was my very first bassoon teacher - and what a whopper of a teacher!  I think I knew, to a small degree, that I wa