American composer David Maslanka wrote a number of fantastic pieces for the bassoon. For my dissertation, I explored his life and unique compositional process (which utilized active meditation and his dreams), and analyzed his three solo works for the bassoon: Orpheus, Music for Doctor Who, and the Sonata for Bassoon and Piano. I would like to present a lecture to increase our community's awareness of these pieces, as well as to share some of my findings including handwritten letters that discuss the origins of his early bassoon pieces, the music of Bach that was embedded in his music, and the intricate, tightly woven structure of the Sonata.