Interviews on YouTube

I interviewed Nora Schankin, contrabassoon of the Toledo Symphony Orchestra, and Casey Gsell, principal bassoon of the Toledo Symphony Orchestra. Here is the link to their interviews.

Nora Schankin: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QIDvGK36LHI

Casey Gsell: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MhLwab8kjaU&feature=youtu.be

Interview with Jeff Lyman

I am currently working on a project where I interview an array of past bassoon performance majors to see where they went with their degrees. This is an interview I conducted via email with Jeff Lyman, bassoon professor at the University of Michigan.

  1. Are there any experiences which led you to choose this particular subset of being a professional musician? If by that you mean becoming a bassoonist, I chose this instrument because I was attracted to its sound. There is very little else beyond that: I heard it and I wanted to play it. I had already started playing saxophone by then (I started that in the sixth grade and switched to bassoon in the eighth grade.)
  2. What level of college/ professional training is needed for this profession? You need to be trained to play cleanly, to play in tune, to play with proper rhythm and with the a sound that is attractive to those hiring and working with you. I believe you also need a significant knowledge of the repertoire or the ability to learn that repertoire quickly. All of this comes to different people at different times, so it’s not possible to answer this question with one standard that applies to everyone.
  3. What skill is the most important for this profession? As I said in #2: technique, intonation, sound, and a fourth would be the ability to use those three in service of style and musicality.
  4. What are some initial expenses needed before entering this profession?A good instrument, a great teacher, reeds and/or reed making equipment, and an ever expanding music library.
  5. What is the long term stability of this profession? That all depends on which aspect of the profession you enter: educational institutions might be considered more stable than a newly established chamber ensemble, for instance, but even large orchestras have seen times of instability.
  6. What steps can I take now if I decided I wanted to enter this profession? Study, practice, study, practice, repeat. Also, build many relationships with other players and strengthen these relationships by performing every job at a professional level and with a professional attitude.
  7. What are some of your favorite and least favorite parts of this job? Favorite: making music around the world with amazing inspiring players; seeing audiences inspired by our music making. Least favorite: seeing this profession treated like an “elite entertainment” or whatever the latest insult might be.
  8. What is the hardest part of this job, what part of this job is effortless?Hardest: almost never getting a day off. Effortless: finding new works and new/old colleagues to inspire more and better music making.
  9. How has this field changed since you started in it? What did it look like?                                                                                                   When I first started out there seemed to be more groups where I as a young player could freelance and learn how to be a professional. There are not as many opportunities for my own students to work in this way, at least it seems there are fewer to me. Perhaps this is more a geographical difference: in my undergraduate years in Philadelphia I was constantly freelancing around the city while there are simply not as many paying orchestras, churches, schools, theaters, etc., in Michigan.