Let’s Talk Bassoon, Season 1, Episode #2, May 21

by Nadina Mackie Jackson | May 3, 2021

Let’s Talk Bassoon, Season 1, Episode #2

The 18th century was a golden age for the bassoon with 37 complete Vivaldi concertos, dozens of Boismortier sonatas, and many works by Corrette, Telemann, Fasch, and others. However, the notated music shows us very little about HOW to play this music. The secrets to performance are often hidden in old method books.

Researching all of them could seem like a life-long quest. There is a shortcut!

Attend “UPPER NOTE OR NOT? BAROQUE 101 FOR MODERN BASSOONISTS”

Zoom Event: Friday, May 21 at 4 pm EDT

Hosted by Jo Ann Simpson, Council of Canadian Bassoonists

Mathieu Lussier introduces practical and immediately useful concepts about ornamentation, continuo playing, and articulation based on his 25 years of vast performance experience as a renowned Baroque and modern bassoonist, conductor, researcher, and composer.

Join Mathieu Lussier and the Council of Canadian Bassoonists for an hour of insight, humor, and everything you’ve wanted to know about Baroque performance practice but were afraid to ask.

Pre-registration is required!

After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting.

Nadia Ingalls has been playing the bassoon for 8 years. She is a student of Christopher Millard at the University of Ottawa. Nadia has attended the Vancouver Symphony Orchestral Institute, conducted by Otto Tausk, and the UBC Chamber Orchestra Festival, conducted by Jonathan Girard. Nadia is from New Brunswick, and she was principal bassoon of the New Brunswick Youth Orchestra for 2 years. She also twice won the Fredericton Music Festival’s Award of Excellence for Senior Winds and represented Fredericton at the Provincial Music Festival. When she lived in Brussels in 2017, she played with the Association Philharmonique d’Uccle, the Jong Symfonisch Antwerpen, and the Leuven Youth Orchestra. She also has an interest in mathematics and is studying for a Bachelor of Music / Honours Bachelor of Science with a Major in music performance and mathematics.

Marlène Ngalissamy is a graduate of the Montreal Conservatory of Music where she studied with Mathieu Harel and Stéphane Lévesque and the Curtis Institute of Music with Daniel Matsukawa.

She has participated in the Marlboro Music Festival (Vermont), the North Shore Music Festival (Chicago), the Pacific Music Festival (Japan), the International Summer Academy (Vienna), the Pablo Casals Festival, Orford Academy and Domaine Forget (Quebec), as well as the Chamber Music Academy of the National Arts Centre (Ottawa).

A laureate of the Developing Artist Grant of the Hnatyshyn Foundation (2013), MarlèneMarlene also won first prize in the Canadian Music Competition (2012) and was a finalist in the Meg Quigley Vivaldi Competition (2015).

As a freelance bassoonist, Marlène has worked with the Edmonton Symphony, l’Orchestre Metropolitan de Montreal and the Saint-Paul Chamber Orchestra (Minnesota) and the Jupiter Chamber Players in New York.

Bobby Thompson is a bassoonist from the small town of Carp outside Ottawa, Canada. He started the bassoon when he was 10 years old through the Ottawa Youth Orchestra Academy with JoAnn Simpson, who would be his mentor for 7 years. He enjoyed playing in the Ottawa Youth Orchestra and participating in a side-by-side concert with the National Arts Centre Orchestra. A foundational part of his bassoon education also came from Brooke Valley Bassoon Days, a week-long program that he attended for many summers throughout elementary and high school. He attended Canterbury High School for the Arts in Ottawa from grades 9-11 and was awarded the Music Woodwind Excellence award. While in Ottawa, he competed in various regional and provincial solo competition prizes such as the Kiwanis Music Festival. He was invited to perform The Weber Bassoon Concerto in F major at the Ottawa Kiwanis Music Festival Highlights Concert in 2018 and had the joy of representing Ottawa woodwinds in OMFA provincials 2019 and was awarded 2nd place. He attended Interlochen Arts Camp for their 6-week orchestra program in the summer of 2019. For his final year of high school, he studied at Interlochen Arts Academy in Michigan with Dr. Eric Stomberg. He is now finishing his first year at the Juilliard School, studying with New York Philharmonic bassoonist Kim Laskowski for his bachelor of bassoon performance.

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