Double Reed Day 2008
This year an enthusiastic audience welcomed two well known artists of the woodwind world, Grover Schiltz and Robert Williams. Once again Alan Fox came to show us his latest models of bassoons and oboes. Jim Kirker presided over the instrument displays and answered questions about intraument repair and maintenance. All in all, this was a great day for double reed players!
Click on a photo to enlarge it.
Grover Schiltz |
Robert Williams |
Grover Schiltz played oboe and English horn in the Chicago Symphony Orchestra for over forty years. A Chicago-area native, he began oboe studies with Robert Mayer, former English horn player of the CSO. After receiving a BachelorÕs degree in music from the University of Michigan, he spent several summers at Tanglewood and played in military bands while in the U.S. Army. Before joining the CSO in 1959, Mr. Schiltz performed with the Lyric Opera of Chicago Orchestra and the Grant Park Symphony. He also toured with the Boston Pops Orchestra, played with the Saint Louis Sinfonietta, and was Principal Oboe of the Kansas City Philharmonic for three years. Mr. Schiltz is active in chamber music ensembles in the Chicago area, including the Chicago Symphony Winds.
Robert Williams joined the Detroit Symphony Orchestra as principal bassoonist in September 1974. He was formerly solo bassoonist with the Winnipeg Symphony, Winnipeg CBC Orchestra, Colorado Philharmonic, and Tuscon Symphony. Mr Williams, an advocate of bassoon chamber music, plays in the Buddhist Bassoon Quartet and Trio of Boston, is a founding member of the DSO Woodwind Quintet, and has appeared as soloist with the DSO on numerous occasions. Mr. Williams can be heard on all of the DSO/Dorati recordings on the London label, including the award-winning disk of Stravinsky's Rite of Spring. He has been on the music faculties of Michigan State University, University of Michigan, Wayne State University, and many other educational institutions. Cut-Time Players features Mr. Williams performing the Andante and Rondo by Carl Maria von Weber, The Swan by Camille Saint-Saens, and Dead Elvis by Michael Daugherty.