I sure wish I could find a video that actually shows Bob Cooper playing, but so far I’ve only located some with him on sax. Oh well!
From “Flute ‘n Oboe” (1956)
Bud Shank – Flute
Bob Cooper – Oboe
Howard Roberts – Guitar
Don Prell – Bass
Chuck Flores – Drums
String Quartet
Oh yea. [name here] will go to WCU and plans on camping in the School of Music until they take him. He has thought about playing the oboe to get in. Yea, jazz oboe!?
Last year in Risør, Norway, where I am one of the artistic directors of the Risør Festival of Chamber Music, we gave a lot of kindergartners a CD with about 20 musical highlights, including movements from a Bach orchestral suite, Beethoven’s “Pathétique” Sonata and Papageno’s aria from Mozart’s Magic Flute. We played them continuously in the kindergarten breaks for two months and asked the kids to pick their favorites. From those favorites, we put together a live concert at the Risør Festival that was a huge success! The children loved everything on the program, which featured everything from Piazzolla to Beethoven.
-Leif Ove Andsnes
I would love to do something like that! Letting them choose their faves really draws kids in. Besides, it’s great fun to hear their thoughts on the pieces. Children can really surprise us with their likes and dislikes.
This reminds me … have you VOTED yet? (Yeah, you have to be a Facebook user. Sorry ’bout that!)
I spent Saturday evening in the California Theatre, listening to the ten finalists for the Irene Dalis Vocal Competition … and Irene Dalis was in the hall! I would have spoken to her, to welcome her back, but so many were already doing that and I thought perhaps she would be growing weary of it all. But welcome back, Irene!
The singers were wonderful. Some were even more than wonderful. Below is the list of finalists, in the order they appeared in the competition (If I found a site for them there’s a link):
Shawnette Sulker, Soprano; Guyana
Evgenia Chaverdova, Mezzo-Soprano; Russia
Jennie Litster, Soprano; Nevada
Krassen Karagiozov, Baritone; Bulgaria
Jasmina Halimic, Soprano; Bosnia-Herzegovina
Rebecca Davis, Soprano; Nevada
Evan Brummel, Baritone; California
Jouvanca Jean-Baptiste, Soprano; New York
Christopher Bengochea, Tenor; Montana
Alexandra LoBianco, Soprano; Florida
And here are the winners:
First Place: Alexandra LoBianco
Second Place: Evan Brummel
Third Place: Christopher Bengochea
Wagner Prize: Jouvanca Jean-Baptiste
Audience Favorite: Alexandra LoBianco
I thought the awards were appropriate, but I was really sorry not to see Krassen Karagiozov awarded anything. I was incredibly moved by his excellent performance. Ah well … this is why competitions drive me nuts; I want everyone to win, and I want my faves to be up there for sure!
One thing that became VERY clear to me after sitting through this competition: Mozart can make or break a singer. While the other composers’ show off a lot of things, Mozart points out all sorts of issues, and especially points out any intonation problems. No surprise, I suppose — he’s used for a ton of instrument auditions as well because he does the same thing there. (Jouvanca, you were fab with your Mozart!)
I’m already looking forward to next year. Maybe I can convince more of my Opera San José orchestra pals to attend to. It’s really great fun!
OBOe rily means a kind of flute
