ANN SHOEMAKER

• Oleg Miroshnikov: Scherzo in G minor

"Ann Shoemaker is an exemplary exponent of her instrument, playing with grace, secure intonation, a sweetly singing tone, and technical fluency. Likewise, pianist Kae Hosoda-Ayer gives very solid piano support. The piano part in these works is miles removed from being a mere accompaniment, and these pieces, the Steinmetz excepted, are true duos for the two instruments. I thoroughly enjoyed the recital, and suspect that a lot of music lovers beyond bassoonists themselves will enjoy hearing this CD too. Enthusiastically recommended."

David DeBoor Canfield, Fanfare [November/December 2018]

“Shoemaker’s playing is highly expressive, with a rich sound and lots of overtones. [In the Grovlez] Hosada’s supportive accompaniment brings out Shoemaker’s conversational phrasing and beautiful soft playing in the low register... Shoemaker herself made [the Black Anemones] transcription for bassoon and piano, and it really works. This is lyrical, contemplative music, and she brings out the lovely melodic lines, displaying good intonation and excellent soft playing. Hosoda is again a sensitive and reliable collaborator... The Dubois suite consists of nine very short movements, each with a clearly drawn character. The players make the most of these vignettes. There is nice interplay between the instruments. [In Gotkovsky’s Concert Variations] the driven tarantella-like ‘Veloce’ really show off the technical prowess of both artists... Shoemaker effectively brings out the delineations of each piece [of the Koechlin]... [The Steinmetz Etude 5] is very challenging, and Shoemaker does a good job with it... The players clearly enjoy [Miroshnikov’s Scherzo] and it’s a great way to end the program.”

Pfeil, American Record Guide [July/August 2018]

"With the capable assistance of her frequent recital partner, pianist Kae Hosada-Ayer, Shoemaker coaxes her instrument to do all the things the instrument is traditionally supposed to excel at, utilizing its penetrating tone, wide range, and surprising ability to scamper rapidly up and down scale passages and cultivate a warm, flowing legato – and a few other features besides."

Phil Muse, Atlanta Audio Society [June 2018]

“Performance challenges abound and Shoemaker surmounts all of them to excellent effect: this is really a CD for bassoonists and for listeners interested in seeing just how much the instrument (whose range is considerably wider than most people realize) can do both expressively and virtuosically... [In the worksthat use piano], Kae Hosoda-Ayer does a fine job of backing Shoemaker up while allowing her to stay firmly in the limelight; the recording adds to this effect by placing the bassoon prominently front-and-center... The fact that none of the composers heard here is particularly well-known (only Koechlin and perhaps Tansman will be familiar names to most listeners) shows how far-ranging Shoemaker had to be in her search for new and/or neglected bassoon repertoire.”

Mark J. Estren, InfoDad [May 2018]

“Solo bassoon music doesn’t get enough respect, and Ann Shoemaker seems intent on doing something about it. 'New Standards,' her engrossing new release in partnership with pianist Kae Hosoda-Ayer, assembles a smorgasbord of nine bassoon pieces ranging in vintage from the 1890s to 2007... The result is both a showcase for her arresting musicianship — she coaxes a dark, weighty sound from her instrument and deploys it with vivid expressivity — and a plea on behalf of overlooked repertoire... the music here has an undeniable allure, and the performers make a fine case for all of it.”

Joshua Kosman, San Francisco Chronicle [May 2018]

About New Standards
I arrived at the title of this CD, New Standards – Music for Bassoon and Piano, because it refers to my own process in preparing to record this project. I actively sought to achieve my highest level of expression, technical mastery, and reed-making possible in order to create a product that I deemed worthy of publication. Thus, the concept of “new standards” resonates deeply. Additionally, I believe all of these works deserve to be standards in our repertoire. Some pieces, such as the Tansman Suite and the Grovlez Sicilienne et Allegro Giocoso, have already earned this status, but there are many works on the album that will be unfamiliar to most bassoonists. My hope is that this recording will encourage others to perform these pieces so that more audiences may enjoy them.” [Ann Shoemaker]

Bassoonist Ann Shoemaker is highly regarded as a soloist, chamber, and orchestral musician and educator. Shoemaker has performed in the Czech Republic, Germany, Finland, Estonia, Russia, Venezuela, Japan, and throughout the United States. Currently principal bassoonist with the Shreveport and Waco symphony orchestras, she has also been a featured soloist artist with many ensembles, including performances with the Baylor Symphonic Band performing The Avatar Concerto by Dana Wilson, and with the Shreveport Symphony in Haydn’s Sinfonia Concertante. Shoemaker has also performed with the Jupiter Symphony Chamber Players and the Avant Chamber Ballet. She has previously held orchestral positions with the Greensboro, Salisbury and Hendersonville symphony orchestras in North Carolina, and has performed with the Fort Worth Symphony, Charlotte Symphony, Charleston Symphony, and at the Kennedy Center SHIFT Festival with the Boulder Philharmonic. Shoemaker has performed at International Double Reed Society conventions in California, Georgia and Japan. Other conference performances include the International Horn Society, International Marimba Festival and ClarinetFest. She is associated with the Meg Quigley Vivaldi Competition and Symposium as an administrator and performer. Shoemaker received her Doctor of Musical Arts degree at the University of North Carolina, and holds a Bachelor of Music degree from Furman University and a Master of Music degree from the Yale School of Music, where she was awarded the Nyfenger Award for Outstanding Woodwind Performance. She is currently Assistant Professor of Bassoon at Baylor University. Ann Shoemaker is a Fox Artist, and in these recordings plays a Fox 660 red maple bassoon.

Kae Hosoda-Ayer has concertized throughout the United States, Canada, Japan and Korea where she is in demand both as a soloist and collaborative pianist. She has been on the accompanying faculty at New England Conservatory, and while at the University of Texas at Austin she was named the first prize winner in the Sidney Wright Endowed Presidential Scholarship Competition in Piano Accompanying. Hosoda-Ayer has been heard on National Public Radio with Ronald de Kant, former Professor of Clarinet at the College-Conservatory of Music in Cincinnati. Her appearances as a collaborative artist include the International Clarinet Association World Conferences in Tokyo, Atlanta, Austin, and Assisi; the International Double Reed Society Conferences in Austin and Tokyo; and the International Horn Symposium Conference in Los Angeles. Her discography includes recordings on the Centaur, MSR, Albany, and Mark Custom labels. Dr. Hosoda-Ayer is Associate Professor of Piano and Director of Collaborative Piano at Baylor University. She holds a Doctor of Musical Arts degree in piano performance with emphasis in chamber music and collaborative arts from the University of Texas at Austin; a Master of Music degree and Graduate Diploma in piano performance from New England Conservatory where she was a Piano Honors Competition winner; and a Bachelor of Music degree in piano performance from Toho Gakuen School of Music, Tokyo, Japan. Her principal teachers include Anton Nel, Gabriel Chodos, and Nobuko Amada, and she has coached with Eiji Oue, Margo Garrett, Masuko Ushioda, and Patricia Zander.
  GABRIEL GROVLEZ (1879-1944)
SICILIENNE ET ALLEGRO GIOCOSO pour basson et piano (1930)

JOSEPH SCHWANTNER (b. 1943)
BLACK ANEMONES (for bassoon and piano)
Originally for voice and piano (1980); for flute and piano (1991)

PIERRE MAX DUBOIS (1930-1995)
NEUF PIÉCES BRÉVES pour basson et piano (1965)
Pomposo (Allegretto)
Sicilienne
Vivo
Tempo de Menuet
Pastorale
Allegretto
Adagio
Giocoso
Vivo

IDA GOTKOVSKY (b. 1933)
VARIATIONS CONCERTANTES pour basson et piano (1970)
Lyrique
Linéaire
Véloce
Expressive
Ostinato

ALEXANDRE TANSMAN (1897-1986)
SUITE pour basson et piano (1957)
Introduction et Allegro
Sarabande
Scherzo

CHARLES KOECHLIN (1867-1950)
3 PIÉCES pour basson et piano, Op.34 (1899)
No. 1—Lent
No. 2—Andante moderato
No. 3—Andante sostenuto

JOHN STEINMETZ (b. 1951)
ETUDE NO. 5 – Variations on “Streets of Laredo” for solo bassoon (1982)

MARCUS KARL MARONEY (b. 1976)
BRIGHTENING for bassoon and piano (2007)

OLEG MIROSHNIKOV (b. 1925)
SCHERZO IN G MINOR for bassoon and piano (1948)
 



MSR Classics