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This year will be an exciting new approach to the training program with the online components. This year there will be additional master classes with guest instructors. It will reach a much larger audience with being online and I’m really looking forward to collaborating with Michael Sundell & our talented group of bassoon students. Faculty Bios Kathleen McLean, Bassoon Michael Sundell, Contrabassoon About This Organization Canada’s leading professional orchestral training institute for talented emerging musicians ages 16 to 28. The National Youth Orchestra of Canada is a Canadian youth o ..read more

The Glickman/Popkin Bassoon Camp is a ten-day summer camp for bassoonists 18 years of age and above, of any skill level. I’m looking forward to participating again this year at the camp. Last year, because of Covid-19, everything unfortunately had to be cancelled. It could still be cancelled but we are assuming that things are good to go. It’s going to be an exciting summer filled with lots of ideas and exchanges with bassoonists all over the United States & Canada. A Beautiful Environment Settled Among the Blue Ridge Mountains at the Wildacres Retreat Because this camp is for all levels ..read more

I’m looking forward to spending this summer in Canada playing with so many great musical colleagues & musicians. Getting a chance to perform again after the Covid-19 situation will be a refreshing change. My friend and colleague James Campbell, retired Indiana University professor of clarinet, is the director of this awesome music festival. This annual classical music festival that occurs in Parry Sound, Ontario has been established since 1979. See more about this festival on their Wikipedia page: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Festival_of_the_Sound About this event Canada’s premier summer ..read more

This exercise is an excellent way to develop rapid technique in the low register. I would suggest slurring everything. Slur everything and after you have fluidity in that approach then vary your articulations to add another layer of challenge. A 1 page PDF of Bassoon Low Register Drills Bassoon Low Register DrillDownload ..read more

Bloomington, Indiana artist Joel Washington has created an artful portrait of bassoonist Kathleen McLean. So, I walked into Laughing Planet one day and noticed Frank Zappa pictures on the wall. Colorful pop art and I was blown away. I looked at the signature on the paintings and I investigated and realized that Joel Washington lived in Bloomington. I approached Joel because I was in the middle of making a recording and I was thinking of cover art. I asked him if he would be interested in taking a photograph and making it into an artful portrait. We became friends quickly and he does great ..read more

Circular Scales & Technical Drills for BassoonDownload This warmup I started on when I was 11 years old and I use it every morning. This is how I start warming up! The reason why I use this is because it condenses all of the scales within a short period of time while shiftly chromatically one octave at a time allowing me to work on fluidity and changing keys rapidly. The document is in major scales but this can also be even more challenging by alternating between major and minor. This allows the musician an opportunity to not only work on the mechanics of playing the instrument but it ..read more

Emile wrote this hauntingly beautiful & expressive piece. It’s full of gorgeous soaring melodies for the bassoon. About Émile Naoumoff Émile Naoumoff (Bulgarian: Емил Наумов; born 20 February 1962 in Sofia, Bulgaria) is a Bulgarian pianist and composer. He revealed himself a musical prodigy at age five, taking up the study of piano and adding composition to his studies a year later. At the age of eight, after a fateful meeting in Paris, he became the last disciple of Nadia Boulanger,[1] who referred to him as “the gift of my old age”. He studied with her until her death in late 1979. Boul ..read more

This is an enchanting work, particularly the 2nd movement. It’s a challenging piece technically to play and one of our gems in our repertoire. Iván Erőd, Sonate Milanese, op 47-1984 1.Allegro Molto, 2.Andante Tranquillo, 3.Lento Molto Giusto-Presto Performed in Auerhall, 2016/10/8 Angela Park Piano, Kathleen McLean Bassoon. About Iván Erőd Iván Erőd was a Hungarian-Austrian composer and pianist. Educated in Budapest, he emigrated to Austria in 1956, where he studied at the Vienna Music Academy. He was successful as a pianist and composer of operas, chamber music and much more, with elements f ..read more

Don Freund created a version of this piece for bassoon & piano. This was originally written for Eugene Rousseau as a retirement gift. It’s a lovely piece and he thought it would sound great with bassoon and piano. Angela Park Piano and Kathleen McLean Bassoon Auerhall 2016/10/08 Don Freund is an American composer, pianist, and Professor of Composition at the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music. His over 100 performed works, include solo, chamber, and orchestral music, live performance with electronic instruments, large theatre works ..read more