SFA School of Music faculty members Staci Spring and Keith Lloyd will present “Bundles of Sticks: Music for Bassoon & Percussion” at 2:30 p.m. Sunday, March 1, in Cole Concert Hall.
Bassoonist Spring and percussionist Lloyd have been performing together since meeting in graduate school at Florida State University. Joining the husband-and-wife duo will be guest artist Dr. Jeff Womack, bassoon, and SFA colleagues Dr. Brad Meyer, percussion, and Geneva Fung, piano.
The title for the recital, which is part of the Cole Performing Arts Series, is a clever play on the translation of the word for bassoon in German, along with the idea that percussionists frequently use many different sticks during a performance, according to Spring.
“We borrowed the title from one of the compositions we are performing,” she said. “We thought this was suitable for our collaboration, since every piece on the program includes some combination of bassoon and percussion instruments.”
“Bundles of Sticks” by Daniel McCarthy is a composition for bassoon and percussion in two movements titled “Wood and Wind” and “On the Edge.”
“McCarthy blends the sound of the bassoon with a large number of percussion instruments,” Spring said.
Among the other pieces to be performed is “TRaInspOrt,” a trio for amplified bassoon and two percussion based on a programmatic narrative of a person navigating through a European passenger train. Sounds of the train’s departure, a busy dining carriage and sleeping/snoring are a few of the elements used to create the story, Spring explained. The capitalized letters in the title are used to emphasize the number of players needed for the performance (trio).
The concert also features the Texas premier of Adrienne Albert’s “Swing Shift” for bassoon, piano and drum set. Guest bassoonist Womack joins in for David Maslanka’s “Orpheus” for two bassoons and marimba, and he also plays on an arrangement of Astor Piazzolla’s “Tango Suite” for bassoon quartet. Members of the SFA bassoon studio will fill out the rest of the quartet.
Womack is associate professor of music at Angelo State University specializing in double reeds and music history. In addition to his teaching duties at Angelo State, Womack maintains an active performance schedule as bassoonist in The Mesquite Trio, principal bassoon of the San Angelo Symphony, where he has been called upon to play principal oboe as well, and substitute bassoon with the San Antonio Symphony.
Spring teaches bassoon and musicology at SFA, while Lloyd teaches percussion. Meyer is director of percussion studies, and Fung is staff accompanist.
Tickets for this Cole Performing Arts Series event are $8 for adults, $6 for seniors and $3 for students and youth. For tickets or more information, call the SFA Fine Arts Box Office at (936) 468-6407 or visit www.finearts.sfasu.edu.
