Performance Class with Cornelia Sommer

This performance class will focus on how to be a great section player in the orchestra. The class will help players build skills specific to orchestral bassoon playing, based on my experience as Second Bassoon in the Detroit Symphony as well as my freelance work in the Boston, Seattle, San Francisco, and Oregon Symphonies. While bassoonists often have ample instruction on audition preparation, it is much more difficult to get feedback on actually playing in the orchestra. This class aims to address that gap and help prepare bassoonists for freelance work, section playing rounds in auditions, and the tenure process after securing a position. I will distribute a handout that summarizes my central tenets of section playing; the handout will outline the skills needed for Principal vs. Second playing and guidelines on vibrato use, dynamic balance, fingering choices, and musical leadership. Each of these ideas will be workshopped by the class performers in important orchestral excerpts for two (or more) bassoons. Excerpts will include: Bartók Concerto for Orchestra, Brahms Piano Concerto No. 1, Strauss Don Quixote, Bonds Montgomery Variations, Brahms Violin Concerto, Sibelius 2, and Shostakovich 10 (if there is a contra player in the mix). I would primarily encourage pre-professional players for this class, but I am also happy to hear more or less experienced bassoonists. Rehearsal prior to the class with your excerpt partner(s) is encouraged but not required.