Posted in ADRS News.

2017 ADRS National Bassoon & Oboe Competition

 

Forty-one bassoonists and oboists gathered at the AMEB in Ashgrove, Brisbane early Monday 2 October to perform for over $2000 of prize money, sponsored by Peter Collins. We are so grateful to Peter for his generous on-going support. We also thank the AMEB Queensland for allowing us to use their wonderful venue: two performance halls, many warm-up rooms, and a decent sized foyer. Both the competition and the “Remember Bach Baroque Double Reed Day” with Austral Harmony on Sunday 1 October were hosted at the AMEB for the ADRS Festival 2017.

 The competition was divided into four age groups: Beginner, Junior, Senior and Open. Each section required participants to perform two contrasting pieces. One of the two pieces for the Open section was a set solo piece by Ansemla Veit specially commissioned for the competition. From her Danses solitaires for bassoon solo performers played Tango solitario and for oboe from her Three Modern Pieces for oboe solo a piece called Didgerioboe, dedicated to “the ADRS and for my dear music obsessed crazies Down Under.” These works became an important exercise for participants to learn and interpret a new piece within a limited time frame. The ADRS is indebted to Anslema Veit for her valuable contribution to the competition and to double reed repertoire.

Our very able adjudicators had the difficult and unenviable task of deciding the winners. We thank Nicole Tait and Vivienne Brooke, both from the Queensland Symphony for adjudicating the Beginner and Junior sections. Also we thank Mark Gaydon (Adelaide Symphony Orchestra) and Anne Gilby (founding President of the ADRS and Melbourne based performer and educator) for adjudicating the Senior and Open sections.

This year saw an interesting phenomenon with both the Beginner and Junior sections being won by Ezekial Jones and the Senior and Open sections being won by Jamie Dodd (both bassoonists).  Congratulations to both players for blitzing both sections! Is this the closest we have to a hat trick in the double reed world?

Beginner Section

  1. Ezekiel Jones, bassoon, QLD
  2. Novia Yin, oboe, QLD
  3. Zachariah Jones, oboe, QLD

HC        Honoka Hidai, mini-bassoon, QLD
HC        Emily Wan, oboe, NSW

Junior Section

  1. Ezekiel Jones, bassoon, QLD
  2. Jade Wolter, oboe, QLD
  3. Serena Chen, oboe, VIC

HC        Fiona Vickers, bassoon, QLD
HC        Laura Hall, oboe, VIC (?)

Senior Section

  1. Jamie Dodd, bassoon, QLD
  2. Harry Tod, bassoon, QLD
  3. Elliot Hunt, oboe, QLD

HC        Alexandra Dunk, oboe, QLD

Open Section: The Peter Collins Prize

  1. Jamie Dodd, bassoon, QLD
  2. Kate Mostert, oboe, NSW
  3. An Nguyen, oboe, SA

HC        Sasha Walker, bassoon, QLD

Congratulations to everyone who performed. It is such an important part of why we play bassoon and oboe. I hope you all gained from the experience and were inspired by hearing others. It can be a lonely world out there when you are the solitary bassoon or oboe at school. This is one of the reasons why we host an annual competition so you get the chance to hear and meet each other. It was wonderful to see so many interstate participants make the journey North. Thank you. We hope you will come again next year when our competition will revert to the Queensland ADRS Oboe and Bassoon Competition as opposed to hosting this year’s National ADRS Bassoon and Oboe Competition. It was good to see so much enjoyment and pleasure being derived from double reed performances.