Royal Concertgebouw Bassoon Master Class with Simon van Holen: Ravel's Bolero

Bassoonist with the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra Simon van Holen coaches Vincent Igusa on an excerpt from Ravel’s Bolero.
To watch more master class videos visit bit.ly/2k6zGVr
To complement their performances in Stern Auditorium at Carnegie Hall, select members of the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra led master classes on January 16, 2018. Participating young artists, alums of Carnegie Hall’s youth orchestra program, NYO-USA, had the opportunity to perform and work with these world-renowned musicians in a one-on-one setting in Carnegie Hall’s Resnick Education Wing. To learn more about Workshops and Master Classes at Carnegie Hall visit www.carnegiehall.org/Education/Workshops-and-Master-Classes.

[@auliasoemantrihardjo]

excellent teacher and great student

[@notallgarbage]

I like the bassoon 😊

[@BruceBoschek]

Best wishes to Mr. Igusa. He seems destined to basoon fame.

Nice, simon is also my bassoon teacher and i am 16. Hopefully i will become as good as him one day

[@diezweizocken9700]

I am also 16 and I also hope that I can be as good as him one day

[@summerishere5146]

Wait that’s Nunez’s son

@@summerishere5146 yes

[@atrebil71]

È proprio vero che non esistono strumenti musicali “facili” da suonare. Sono tutti difficili e impegnativi!

[@Jwellsuhhuh]

Laughs in alto saxophone

[@karenspeciale9283]

Woah That Killed me at 9:27 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

[@michaelparkinson4643]

As a bassoon player and Alexander Technique teacher I was delighted to see the attention to poise and breathing....and indeed that the student was allowed to sit. Being forced to stand in a lesson makes little sense as almost every bassoon player ends up (at best) playing in an orchestra and is also always obliged to sit. That being the case one needs to learn how to is well!

[@willmorris8198]

I choose to stand in my lessons personally (and my teacher is fine with this) because I find it easier to play sitting anyway (the bassoon is kind of a monster to play standing because it uses all 10 fingers and it's such a big instrument) and I perform my juries/recitals standing because I think I have a better stage presence that way. I still sit in ensemble rehearsals though but I started using a neck strap rather than a seat strap when I started playing recitals standing because I think it makes it easier for me to switch between sitting and standing. Like you say it's important to be able to do both

[@EGORGENREEDS]

Anyway, the most important thing is - the reed.
Bad reed - you're a bad musician.
Good reed - you're a cool musician.
Loud / quiet, gentle sound, sharp sound - all this is easily tuned with a reed.
In the orchestra, you need to play as quietly as possible, clamped, but pure intonation (especially if you are the 2nd bassoonist). Solo can be played however you want. Like that, it's simple.

[@andrewleblanc2449]

is Simon using a low a bell?

[@teamir8176]

No, the Bell he is using has both the low B and Bb pads on the Bell. They are pretty popular in Europe

[@andrewleblanc2449]

@@teamir8176 I see thanks

[@doodle2763]

@@teamir8176 I think it’s called a gentleman’s cut, my bassoon has it as well :)

[@pattyk734]

I played bassoon in high school decades ago because no one else wanted to play it. I was terrible but I had fun. It is after all the ‘clown of the orchestra’

[@nyancs7098]

Hmm