MEET JOY FLEMMING

Joy Flemming is principal bassoonist with the Keene Chamber Orchestra and Raylynmor Opera Company, and a founding member of Festival Chamber Music, a woodwind ensemble. She has performed with the Monadnock Chorus Orchestra, the Granite State Orchestra, Opera North, the Dartmouth Symphony Orchestra, and the Keene State Orchestra. Other positions have included the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Illinois Philharmonic Orchestra, Northbrook Symphony Orchestra, Civic and Classical Orchestras and Light Opera Works in the Chicago area. She has a master's degree in Arts Management from Akron University in Ohio, and a bachelor's degree in performance from the University of New Hampshire. Joy moved to Manchester, NH during high school, and attended the Apple Hill Center for Chamber Music during the 1980's. She now lives with her family in Peterborough.

Important musical influences have been school music teachers Tom Wagner (Garden City, NY) and Arthur Mirabile (Manchester, NH); and bassoonists Don Bravo, Georgia Peeples, Willard Elliot and James Birkenstock.

Joy's entertaining personal story is how she met her husband, flutist David Flemming. She was working for an orchestra in Chicago and answered an ad in the Chicago Tribune S "Bassoonist wanted for woodwind quintet." After learning of the great coincidence in their families (both fathers have the same birthday, and share the same first name, Wilfred) their fate was sealed. Two kids and a dog later, the Flemmings relocated to Peterborough to be closer to extended family.

My impressions about this piece:

It isn't often one hears a bassoon concerto - let alone a world premier! Some may say, it isn't often one hears a bassoon! Oh yes, the Grandfather in Peter and the Wolf, the jaunty melody in the Sorcerer's Apprentice (remember Mickey Mouse in Fantasia?), and the opening to Stravinski's Rite of Spring (also in Fantasia). But the bassoon is not your standard, garden-variety solo instrument.

And the Bassoon Concerto by John Steinmetz is not your garden-variety concerto, either. Yes, it's got the standard three movement slow-fast-slow, some beautiful melodies, and a great solo part which lets the bassoon shine. But I can guarantee you've never heard anything like this before. The first movement, Opening, starts with bassoon and strings in a running 16th-note pattern like a river flowing through a green meadow. Bird chirps from the woodwinds, a wide array of percussion, and strong rhythms from the whole orchestra accentuate the steady flow of the 16ths. Sometimes the bassoon soars over the orchestra with a mournful cry.

The second movement, Recitative and Hymn, also evokes nature. It features percussion and harp in a slower, but still rhythmic melody. It leads into the third movement, a Celebration based on an African dance rhythm. All sections of the orchestra take part in the joyful melody. Piccolo chirps highlight a soaring counter-melody in bassoon. Both second and third movements have elements of the first movement embedded within.

Last Modified: May 08, 15:33