BASSOON SURROUNDED
20th Century Music for Bassoon & Percussion

  Includes World Premiere Recordings  

Paul Chihara - Michael Isaacson - David Maslanka
Alexandre Ouzounoff  - Verne Reynolds
Gerhard Samuel - Dean Witten

CHRISTIN SCHILLINGER bassoon
ANDREW HEGLUND percussion
Albie Micklich bassoon
Sharon Hickox-Young percussion

  MS1307  ~  $14.95  

"These works easily represent most of the good music that has been written for bassoon and percussion... David Maslanka’s Orpheus is a great opener to the program. Its modern yet accessible harmonic structure will appeal to listeners of today. Schillinger and Micklich play together very well. One may hardly notice that they play with almost no vibrato—their tones are pure and beautiful.

[Gerhard Samuel's] piece pays homage to his friend John Cage, who died in 1992. It is a sparsely written work. Schillinger gets the chance here to display her lyrical talents in the context of a very difficult idiom...

There is a nice interlude, a duet for bassoon and one maraca by Michael Isaacson that refreshing the ear. 

Dean Witten’s Composites uses many of newer techniques—quarter tones, bent pitches, multi-phonics. The bassoonist actually ends up playing quite a bit of the percussion parts toward the end of the work. 

The last two pieces conjure an image of some mad scientist conducting an experiment in the wild, where native bassoons are confronted by the intruding percussion instruments!

They are enjoyable works to hear. This collection of bassoon and percussion works will certainly appeal to bassoonists, but also to followers of great percussion music."
American Record Guide ~ January/February 2010

Christin Schillinger is the Assistant Professor of Bassoon at Miami University, Ohio. She held the same position with the University of Nevada, Reno from 2004-2009. She has held positions with the Reno Chamber Orchestra, the Reno Philharmonic and currently with the Classical Music Festival in Eisenstadt, Austria. Schillinger has given recitals and master classes throughout the United States, as well as performances at International Double Reed Society Conferences in the United States and in Europe. A fierce proponent of new music, she has worked with composers including Bill Douglas, Ray Pizzi, Katherine Hoover and Jean-Paul Perrotte. Dr. Schillinger received her degrees from Arizona State University, Michigan State University and Northwestern University. Her primary teachers include Dr. Jeffrey Lyman, Barrick Stees, Michael Kroth and Robert Barris.

Andrew Heglund is the Assistant Professor of Percussion at the University of Nevada, Reno. He performs with the faculty jazz quintet The Collective, The Reno Jazz Orchestra, the Ed Corey Trio, the Reno Philharmonic Orchestra, and the Discover Music Percussion Ensemble. Recently Heglund was commissioned by the Sierra Nevada Ballet to compose several percussion works to accompany their ensemble. He has also been a featured soloist with the University Wind Ensemble for their performance of Joseph Schwantner’s Concerto for Percussion and Orchestra. Dr. Heglund is an active clinician and adjudicator in the Northern Nevada and Northern California areas and organizes the annual Northern Nevada Day of Percussion.

Albie Micklich is the Associate Professor of Bassoon at Arizona State University. He is currently Co-Principal Bassoon with ProMusica Chamber Orchestra and bassoonist with the Ocotillo Winds. He has taught and performed throughout Europe, Bermuda, Brazil, Australia, Japan and North America, and has presented master classes at numerous universities across the United States. He has performed on numerous classical and contemporary recordings, working with artists such as The Who, The Chieftains, David Sandborn and Sinead O’Connor. Micklich is a Fox Artist.

Sharon Hickox-Young is on the percussion faculty of the University of Nevada, Reno. She holds degrees from Rice University and the University of Southern California and has performed with numerous orchestras including the Alabama Symphony, Tuscaloosa Symphony, San Antonio Symphony, Auckland Philharmonic, New Zealand Symphony, San Angelo Symphony, Big Spring Symphony and the Midland-Odessa Symphony. Currently Ms. Hickox-Young performs with the Reno Philharmonic, Reno Chamber Orchestra, Nevada Opera and Ballet as well as being a member of the Reno Philharmonic’s Discover music Percussion Ensemble.