Event

Bassoon Day 2018

Saturday, February 17, 2018 09:00
Price: 
Free admission

Join us for the 16th annual Bassoon Day at McGill! This year’s special guest is Jeffrey Lyman, Professor of Bassoon at the University of Michigan.  

We look forward to seeing you at Bassoon Day!

For more information, contact stephane.levesque [at] mcgill.ca (Stéphane Lévesque).


Prospective students: Sign up for a tour of our School during Bassoon Day!


Schedule

All events are free and open to the public; no advance registration required.

  • 9:00am–2:45pm: Bassoons and Accessories
    • Arrive early to check out the many instruments, bocals, and accessories presented by
      Bell Bassoons Ltd (Canada) and Fox Products Corp (USA); coffee and muffins will be served.

    • Venue: Strathcona Music Building, Room C-310  555 Sherbrooke Street West

  • 10:30am–12:00pm: Master Class with Stéphane Lévesque
    • Open to everyone - McGill students will be performing in the class.
      Free admission

    • Venue: Strathcona Music Building, Room C-304

  • 12:30pm-1:30pm: Tour of the Schulich School of Music (for prospective students). The tour will leave from the Strathcona Music Building Lobby.  Sign up online!

  • 1:45pm -3:45pm: Master class with Jeffrey Lyman, bassoon professor at the University of Michigan
    • Open to everyone
      Free admission
    • Venue: Strathcona Music Building, Room C-304

  • 4:15pm: A Bassoon Extravaganza No. 16!
    • Concert featuring special guest Jeffrey Lyman, with OSM bassoonists Stéphane Lévesque, Martin Mangrum, Mathieu Harel and Michael Sundell. Bring your bassoon and don’t miss the Bassoon Ensemble Grand Finale!
      Free admission.
    • Venue: Pollack Hall, Strathcona Music Building


Biographies

Jeffrey Lyman

Jeffrey Lyman has established himself as one of the premier performers, teachers, and historians of the bassoon in the U.S. He has been professor of Bassoon at the University of Michigan School of Music, Theatre & Dance (SMTD) since 2006, and, prior to that, held positions at Arizona State University and Bowling Green State University.

His principal teachers include Bernard Garfield of the Philadelphia Orchestra and Richard Beene and Hugh Cooper of the University of Michigan (U-M). He holds an undergraduate degree from Temple University and his MM and DMA from U-M.

He has been a member of numerous orchestras across the country and has performed with the Philadelphia Orchestra, the Los Angeles Philharmonic, the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra, the Opera Company of Philadelphia, the Savannah Symphony, the ProMusica Chamber Orchestra of Columbus, the Grand Rapids Symphony, and the Michigan Opera Theatre, to name a few.

Dr. Lyman performs annually at the conferences of the International Double Reed Society and is a popular clinician at bassoon master classes around the world. He has given master classes and guest recitals at McGill University, USC, the Curtis Institute, the Eastman School, the Tchaikovsky Conservatory (Moscow), Florida State University, Rice University, and many others.

Lyman is also known as an author and advocate of new music, and has many publications and commissions to his credit. A member of the Rushes Ensemble, he was one of a consortium of bassoonists to commission, record and perform the ground breaking work Rushes by Michael Gordon and has toured Europe and the US in support of that work. 

Lyman has released multiple editions of works from the 19th and 20th centuries as part of the Jeffrey Lyman Edition at TrevCo Music Publishing, including the first English translation of the Nouvelle Méthode de Basson by Étienne Ozi, the first complete method for bassoon.

Dr. Lyman maintains an extensive YouTube channel filled with live videos of his concerts and of multiple degree recitals by members of the U-M Bassoon Studio. A second channel, the Katz-King-Lyman Trio, features video performances of music for oboe, bassoon and piano. He appears on Canteloupe Records, Summit, Le Chant du Monde, New World, Brasswell, Koch International and BlockM recordings.

Stéphane Lévesque

Born in Montréal, Stéphane Lévesque has been Principal Bassoon of the Orchestre symphonique de Montréal since the fall of 1998. He has also held principal bassoon positions with the National Arts Centre Orchestra in Ottawa, the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra, and the Saito Kinen Orchestra in Japan. Mr Lévesque is Assistant Professor at the Schulich School of Music of McGill University, and he has given master classes in institutions which include the Banff Centre, the Curtis Institute in Philadelphia,  the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Lyon in France, and the National School of Music in Mexico City. He has appeared as soloist on many occasions with the OSM, as well as with ensembles such as the Orchestre symphonique de Québec, the New World Symphony, Les Violons du Roy and the U.S. Army Orchestra. Mr Lévesque studied with Stephen Maxym and Frank Morelli at Yale University, and with Rodolfo Masella at the Montréal Conservatory. 

Martin Mangrum

Born in Princeton, NJ and raised in Hamilton, Ontario, Martin Mangrum joined the Orchestre symphonique de Montréal as Second Bassoon in September of 2000, and served as acting Associate Principal during the 2003-04 season. Prior to his appointment in Montréal, he was Principal Bassoon of the Real Orquesta Sinfónica in Sevilla, and Co-Principal of the Orquestra Simfònica de Barcelona i Nacional de Catalunya. Mr Mangrum holds a Doctorate degree from the Juilliard School in New York, where he studied with Stephen Maxym. He has also studied with Mordechai Rechtman during a stay in Israel in 1993. Mr Mangrum currently teaches bassoon and chamber music at the Schulich School of Music of McGill University, as well as at the Université de Montréal.

Mathieu Harel

Associate principal bassoon with the Orchestre symphonique de Montréal, Mathieu Harel was acting principal bassoon of the OSM during the 2003-04 season. Born in Contrecoeur, near Montréal, Mr. Harel studied with Bernard Garfield at the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia, and at the Montreal Conservatory, with Rodolfo Masella and Gerald Corey. Prior to the end of his studies at Curtis, Mr Harel won the second bassoon position with the Orchestre symphonique de Québec, and he was also assistant principal bassoon with the Grant Park Symphony in Chicago. He currently teaches at the Montreal Conservatory, and was a member of the faculties at McGill University, at the Trois-Rivières Conservatory and at the Camp Musical des Laurentides. Mr Harel is also a member of the Kiosque 1900 Ensemble.

Michael Sundell

Michael Sundell was appointed to the contrabassoon position with the Orchestre symphonique de Montréal in 2011.  He attended the Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music, where he studied with William Winstead, and Rice University as a student of Benjamin Kamins. Prior to coming to Montreal, Mr Sundell was a member of the Colorado Symphony, and he has also held positions with the Milwaukee Symphony, Tulsa Philharmonic, and Virginia Symphony. He also enjoyed an extensive career as a freelance musician working with many orchestras throughout the U.S. including the Chicago Symphony, Los Angeles Philharmonic, National Symphony, and the Kennedy Center Opera. 


Sponsored by:

Bell Bassoons Ltd. | The Schulich School of Music (McGill University) | MUSA | Fox Products Corporation

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