Collegiate Studio at UT-Arlington

Welcome! I would personally like to welcome all bassoonists looking for a collegiate home to join the Bassoon Studio at UT-Arlington. I hope you’ll take a look at the variety of undergraduate and graduate programs offered by UTA Music, visit us and be a UTA Student For a Day, or apply for admission or an audition (undergraduate, graduate)!

Click here if you were looking for private bassoon studies (pre-college).

Join us! The UTA Bassoon Studio is a friendly group of diverse students, as you can see! As a member of the studio, I will help you learn and refine all your major and minor scales, increase your range and technical abilities, explore the varied repertoire of the bassoon, and become a more expressive and lyrical player. Students of varying levels are truly welcome in the studio; I don’t expect or require incoming students to have any specific technical, lyrical, or repertoire knowledge other than the proficiency demonstrated in the audition (audition requirements can be found here). I do expect students to have a positive attitude, a desire to learn, and a solid, self-driven practice ethic.

All About bassoon at UTA. As a bassoon studio member, each student will participate in the following activities. Descriptions are below, but you can email me to learn more.

• Private Lesson: one hour, once weekly

• Studio Class: one hour, twice weekly

• Reed class: one hour, once weekly (optional for students in their third year or later)

• Guest masterclasses and recitals: once or twice per semester

• Studio Recitals (solo and group): one to three times per semester

• Double Reed Day: once per spring semester, as part of the faculty team

• Bassoon All-State Intensive: once per fall semester, as part of the faculty team

• Maverick Bassoon Club meetings and activities (optional)

Private Lessons. Each weekly lesson will be with me (not a graduate student). A typical lesson will include excerpts from the Svoboda Daily Scale Studies, scales and arpeggios from memory, etudes, solo repertoire, and band or orchestral excerpts, based on the student’s upcoming auditions or performances. Each week, the student will receive a Private Lesson Sheet similar to the one I use for younger students, but with a grade assigned for each component.

Studio Class. During studio class, we meet as a group. We cover lots of fundamentals and repertoire: breathing support and techniques, long tones, scales, and arpeggios, double tonguing, sight-reading, chamber music, and orchestral and band excerpts, all in a group format. Any individual performance during studio class is pre-assigned or volunteered. We also cover etudes in a unique way: each week, one student is assigned to perform an etude they have not worked on with me. This encourages students to refine their own repertoire preparation skills, and overcome performance anxiety over time. After the performance, each member of the studio provides the performer with positive and constructive feedback, encouraging critical listening, constructive critique styles, and developing individual pedagogical approaches.

Reed Class. One hour per week, I meet with each first- and second-year student to cover the basics of reedmaking. All students are welcomed and encouraged each week, either to revisit reed fundamentals, refine techniques, or to work on a tricky reed together. All students are required to play on their own reeds only; no reeds may be purchased after their first semester begins. The reed curriculum is as follows:

• First year: Forming blanks from GSP (gouged, shaped, profiled) cane; reed adjustment and finishing; learning to work with a micrometer

• Second year: Profiling and shaping cane

Guest Masterclasses and Recitals. Several times a year, the UTA Bassoon Studio welcomes guest artists. Typically, each artist teaches a masterclass and gives a recital, and studio attendance is required at both. Students may be asked to perform at the masterclass. UTA has been proud to host guests like Les Francs Bassons, the United States Army School of Music Woodwind Quintet, William Ludwig (Indiana University), Darrel Hale (Louisiana State University), Kristin Wolfe Jensen (University of Texas), Ted Soluri (Principal of the Dallas Symphony), Wilfred Roberts (Principal of the Dallas Symphony, retired). Kevin Hall (Principal of the Fort Worth Symphony, retired), Dr. Jefferson Campbell (University of Minnesota-Duluth), the late Dr. Eric Varner, and more.

Studio Recitals. At the end of each semester, the entire UTA Bassoon Studio gives a group recital in which each member performs a solo (unaccompanied or with piano). Studio members often volunteer to rehearse small and larger chamber ensembles for fun, leading to diverse and enjoyable programs. Each recital concludes with our standard closer, the Beer Barrel Polka, an homage to Dr. Bennett Cameron’s own undergraduate teacher, Dr. Tina Carpenter. Studio members in their junior or senior year also perform their own solo recitals, an exciting opportunity for the soloist to perform, and the studio members to celebrate them!

Double Reed Day and the Bassoon All-State Intensive. Each fall, the UTA Bassoon Studio hosts the Bassoon All-State Intensive, and each spring, we host Double Reed Day, bringing up to 70 young double reed players, their teachers, and parents to campus. Studio members serve as part of the faculty team for both events, developing leadership through interpersonal skills, rehearsal techniques, leading sectionals, providing logistical support, working closely with guest artists, serving meals, and more.

Maverick Bassoon Club. The Maverick Bassoon Club is an official UTA Student Organization dedicated to supporting and promoting the UTA Bassoon Studio through raising funds and goodwill. The MBC provides a large portion of the funding to put on Double Reed Day, the All-State Intensive, and to bring such a large number of world-renowned guest artists to campus. MBC also provides a unique opportunity for members and officers to gain leadership, professional, and interpersonal skills.