Ryoichi Narusawa
It is with great sadness that I report the death of the great Japanese oboist Seizo Suzuki. He passed away on January 12, 2008 at the age of 85. Professor Suzuki was the Grand Old Master for all the oboists in Japan who opened the door for the new stage of the history of oboe playing in Japan. When he started his oboe study in 1930's almost all Japanese people still considered that the oboe was an instrument which is too difficult to play in tune, always producing reedy, rough and less-expressive tone. Mr. Suzuki, however, changed the situation under influence of Leon Goossens' recordings and succeeded to "sing" on the oboe for the first time in Japan. Later, in the 1950's, he met Bert Gassman and strongly inspired by the method of orchestral playing of Tabuteau-Bloom school using long W-scrape reeds.
He also commissioned and gave birth to many works by Japanese composers such as Kishio Hirao's oboe sonata in 1952. Continue reading
Evelyn Barbirolli, principal oboist of the Scottish Orchestra 1933-36, oboist with the Glyndebourne Festival Orchestra, London Symphony Orchestra and Professor of Oboe at the Royal Academy of Music, died January 25th in London. In 1971 she was appointed a professor at the Royal Academy of Music. She was also honoured by Leeds University, the Royal College of Music (where she had studied under Leon Goossens), Trinity College and the Royal Northern College, to whom she in due course presented her own large collection of wind music. This included works she had commissioned from Gordon Jacob and Arnold Cooke, among others. She was married to Sir John Barbirolli for 31 years until his death in 1970.
The Independent Obituary, The Guardian Obituary, The Telegraph Obituary
Nancy Ambrose King
In order to recognize the tremendous accomplishments of William Waterhouse (1931-2007) and Philip Bate (1909-1999) and to encourage double reed scholarship the International Double Reed Society Executive Committee is announcing the forthcoming publication of a Festschrift (celebratory publication) in honor of Waterhouse and Bate. Though aspects of the publication are technically a Gedenkschrift (memorial publication), the Society has decided that this publication not only serves as a memorial to two remarkable men, but also a celebration of their achievements and those of authors contributing to the project. Hence it will retain the title Festschrift.
It is with great sadness that we report the passing of Lewis Hugh Cooper on Thursday, April 26, 2007. Professor Cooper was the first instructor of bassoon at the University of Michigan, a longtime member of the Detroit Symphony Orchestra, and a leader in bassoon pedagogy and acoustical research. Professor Cooper will be remembered by bassoonists around the world as the co-author (with Howard Toplansky) of the most important source for bassoon fingerings ever compiled, Essentials of Bassoon Technique (first published in 1968 by Howard Toplansky, Union, New Jersey.) He also consulted with the Püchner bassoon company of Nauheim, Germany on the "Cooper Model" Püchner bassoon (see photos below.) He touched the lives of countless bassoonists through his unfailing dedication to the constant and ever widening study of the bassoon, its acoustics, its construction, its repertory and its history. Please join friends, family and students of Lewis Hugh Cooper in a celebration of his life and career on Saturday, March 15, 2008 at 8 pm in Britton Hall. If you are interested in participating in the event or in simply attending along with others who knew Professor Cooper, please contact Jeffrey Lyman at 734-764-2508 or at jlym@umich.edu.
After studying with Archie Camden at the Royal College of Music, William ”Bill“ Waterhouse began his professional playing career with the Philharmonia Orchestra, moving subsequently to the Royal Opera House Orchestra, Covent Garden, Italian-Swiss Radio Orchestra (Lugano), London Symphony Orchestra and finally, the BBC Symphony Orchestra. He was appointed to teach bassoon at the Royal Manchester College of Music in 1966 where he taught for 30 years and was Curator of the Collection of Historic Musical Instruments. He was a prolific writer on the bassoon, and wind instruments more generally, and was the editor of the renowned reference work The New Langwill Index: a dictionary of musical wind-instrument makers and inventors (London: Tony Bingham, 1983). He was author of the article on the bassoon for the New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians and Grove Music Online, he wrote the Yehudi Menuhin guide on the bassoon and, at the time of his death, was working on a Yale University Press monograph on the bassoon for its series on musical instruments. William Waterhouse was a vital member of the IDRS since its inception having attended the first conference in 1971. He will be profoundly missed by the double reed community. More Biographical information, Obituary
This year, the jury awarded four first, four second and three third prizes. The main and special prizes have been endowed with a total sum of 170,000 Euros. After forty years a first prize was again awarded in the oboe category. All in all, 217 young instrumentalists from 35 countries took part in this year’s competition.
2007 Oboe Prize Winners
Mr. Spratt owned and operated both the Jack Spratt Woodwind Shop and Spratt Music Publishing Company. For nearly seventy years his distinctive catalog of musical accoutrements, supplies and sheet music were unique and well known within the industry. A longstanding member of the International Double Reed Society, he was a veteran staff member at the Glickman-Popkin Bassoon Camp.
The 2007 IDRS Fernand Gillet-Hugo Fox Competition took place at the annual conference of the IDRS in Ithaca, NY. Of the five finalists, the winners are:
IDRS 2007 conference recordings can now be ordered by downloading a form found on the IDRS 2007 web site.
The United States Army Band Pershing’s Own announces an opening for Principal Oboe with the Army’s premier musical organization, located 10 minutes from downtown Washington, DC. For information contact: Sergeant Major Debbie McGarity at debra.l.mcgarity@us.army.mil, (703) 696-6039 or (703) 696-0206
The Blair School of Music at Vanderbilt University seeks a full-time artist-teacher of oboe, to begin in Fall 2008. Duties include teaching oboe students in the Bachelor of Music program, performing in the Blair Woodwind Quintet, and possibly other teaching responsibilities as appropriate. It is expected that this artist-teacher of oboe will be successful in recruiting students, and will develop and maintain a national/international reputation for excellence in performing and teaching. Tenure-track, Assistant or Associate Professor; salary and rank will be commensurate with qualifications. Candidates should possess a terminal degree and/or commensurate experience. Review of applications will begin immediately and will continue until the position is filled. Send current curriculum vitae, with references, and a recent CD to: Search Committee; c/o Norma B. Gandy, Office of the Dean, Blair School of Music; Vanderbilt University; 2400 Blakemore Ave.; Nashville, TN 37212-3499.
Application: please submit a letter of application with Curriculum Vitae and CD recordings, and arrange to have 3 letters of recommendation sent. Send all application materials by October 26, 2007, to Bassoon Search, University of Virginia, P. O. Box 400176, Charlottesville, VA 22904-4176.
Baylor University announces the position of Associate or Assistant Professor of Bassoon, a tenure-track position that begins in August of 2008. This person will be responsible for teaching applied bassoon, teaching bassoon methods and woodwind literature, coaching woodwind chamber music, recruiting and maintaining a quality studio of undergraduate and graduate music majors, maintaining an active professional profile, and performing regularly with the faculty woodwind quintet. To ensure consideration, a completed application should be received by November 2, 2007. For more information, please contact Dr. Doris DeLoach at: Doris_DeLoach@baylor.edu or download a word doc with more information
This is a full-time position in the Army's premier
touring concert band. Applicants selected from
screening of recordings will be invited for a personal
interview and audition. Travel expenses for qualified
candidates will be paid by the United States Army.
Please submit a recent resume and high-quality
recording, CD preferred to:
Attn: Auditions
The U.S. Army Field Band
4214 Field Band Drive
Fort Meade, MD 20755-5330
Phone: (301) 677-5781 or 6231
More information
Please send letter of application, vita, and at least three
confidential letters of recommendation sent directly from their sources
or from an agency to:
Margaret G. Firth
School of Music
The University of Southern Mississippi
118 College Drive #5081
Hattiesburg, MS 39406-0001
More information.
Teach studio bassoon, recruit and maintain a studio of outstanding graduate and undergraduate students (bassoon performance and instrumental music education), teach woodwind pedagogy courses as needed, academic instruction as needed (theory preferred, history, music literature, etc.), serve on graduate committees as needed. Complete the Faculty/Academic Administrative application at the web site http://employment.unl.edu, requisition 060880 and then submit a letter of application, a curriculum vitae, and three current letters of reference sent under separate cover from the reference writers to: Bassoon Search Chair, UNL School of Music, 121 Westbrook Music Building, Lincoln, NE 68588-0100. Phone: 402-472-2983. Fax: 402-472-8962. Email: wmcmullen1@unl.edu. Start Date: August 2007. Application deadline: December 01, 2006.
The competition will take place in Rovereto, Italy from May 9th to 24th, 2008. For further information visit: http://www.mozartitalia.org. Applications must be received no later than 25th April, 2008.
The International Double Reed Society is pleased to announce the 28th annual performance competition for oboists and bassoonists. The competition is dedicated to the memory of the late master oboist and honorary member of the IDRS, Fernand Gillet, and to the memory of master bassoonist Hugo Fox, principal bassoonist of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra from 1922-1949.
First prize for the 2008 competition is an $8,000 US cash award. The second prize is a $3,000 US cash award. Other finalists will receive a $1,000 US cash award.
Please see http://www.gilletfox.org/ for more information and application.
The International Double Reed Society is pleased to announce the first annual performance competition for young artists to take place July 22-26, 2008 in Provo, Utah, USA. First prize for the 2008 competition is a $2000 US cash award. The second prize is a $1000 US cash award. Third prize is a $500 US cash award. Oboists who have not reached their 22nd birthday by the date of the final round of the competition (July 24, 2008) are eligible to enter, but no previous first prize winner of the IDRS Young Artist Competition is eligible to participate. All entrants must be current members of the IDRS.
The 2008 ARD Competition will be for bassoon, viola and clarinet. Application for participation is due April 30, 2008. More information
The competition will take place from October 10 to October 18, 2009 in Karuizawa, Japan. The application for preliminary screening (recorded audition) is scheduled for May, 2009. More details will be announced soon.
We are pleased to announce an exciting new venture for IDRS: the IDRS Podcast. A new podcast will be released each month. Subscribe at iTunes. More information
A Beta version of IDRS Videocast is now available. You may access the videocast by its RSS Feed as well.
Now open to IDRS members and nonmembers!
IDRS members may use the IDRS logo in their web sites (personal or business), and email and bulletin board signatures. Download the logo.
The IDRS WWW project is supported in part by an award from The National Endowment for the Arts.
Search IDRS
Online Access
Please join us at the International Double Reed Society Conference held at Brigham Young University, in Provo, Utah July 22-26, 2008. More information.
Gillet-Fox Competition
Information on the 2008 Gillet-Fox Competition for bassoon is now available online along with videos from past competitions
Recordings are now available from the 2007 Conference in Ithica
UT Video Online
Videos from the 34th IDRS Conference at The Univererersity of Texas at Austin are now online.
New English Horn Bibliography by Sandro Caldini
Copyright © Yoshiyuki Ishikawa and the International Double Reed Society 1995-2008
Yoshiyuki Ishikawa, Editor IDRS OnLine Publications
Terry B. Ewell, Associate Editor
Saxton Rose, Assistant Editor
Published by the International Double Reed Society and Yoshiyuki Ishikawa in cooperation with the University of Colorado, College of Music.
