Guest Artists at UMD!

One of the aspects of a university teaching position that I was most looking forward to was the ability to bring in guest artists to work with the students. I’ve recently hosted two wonderful bassoonists who have both given recitals and masterclasses open to the public, Darrel Hale and Laura Bennett Cameron.

Professor Hale’s recital on October 19th focused on solo bassoon repertoire (Bach Flute Partita, select Mignone Waltzes, and our teacher, Bill Winstead’s, Enigma) and I joined him for a few of the Barber of Seville Duets.

Professor Hale and I go way back to our days in Colorado (while I was in high school and he was an undergrad at the University of Colorado) and we went to school in Cincinnati together. It was great to play with him again! He was kind enough to invite me down to give a recital and masterclass for his studio at Louisiana State University this past February. After the recital at UMD he worked with four of the students for about an hour.

This past Monday, we had the pleasure of hosting Laura Bennett Cameron at the end of her week-long tour of Texas, Florida, and Virginia. She plays in the Dallas Winds and teaches at the University of Texas-Arlington. Her recital focused on the music and arrangements of Roger Boutry, a contemporary Parisian composer and champion of the bassoon. I joined her for his Prélude, Pastorale, et Tarentelle pour deux bassons, written in 1966. She ended the recital with the difficult Interférences I. She then worked with three of the students for an hour.

I am grateful for their time and expertise and look forward to many more guest artists in the future! We have more in the works and from now on I’ll add them to the calendar on the main page of my website and will announce them on social media.