About Kathleen McLean - Page 3 of 6

Octagon 2019 Concert Tour

Playing Bassoon In The Backup Band for The Who at Ruoff Mortgage Center

I will be performing with the backup band at this event!

The Who announce special guests for first leg of the 2019 US tour

The Who will also be releasing their first album of new songs in thirteen years later this year. On stage, the line-up will be rounded out by familiar Who players featuring guitarist/backup singer Simon Townshend, keyboardist Loren Gold, bassist Jon Button and drummer Zak Starkey, and complemented by some of the best orchestras in the U.S. and Canada.

Date	05/18/2019
Time	7:30pm
Venue	Ruoff Home Mortgage Music Center
Location	Noblesville, IN, United States
Tickets	Get LiveNation Tickets or check StubHub

Interview from WFIU – The Soul Of The Orchestra: Bassoonist Kathleen McLean

Associate professor of bassoon at the IU Jacobs School of Music, Kathleen McLean says, “People have always said the bassoon sounds like the human soul.”Listen Now: The Soul Of The Orchestra: Bassoonist Kathleen McLean-4:44

Listen to the WFIU interview Download

Read the full article here: https://indianapublicmedia.org/arts/kathleen-mclean/

Exercise Based on “Tchaikovsky 6”

This is a technical exercise for bassoon that emphasizes the lower register.

It’s a really great exercise to develop 2nd bassoon playing in an orchestra. There is a lot of left thumb work and this pattern can go all the way up to the highest register as well. You are executing this pattern using all of the keys.

The order of notes can also be shuffled around within a small intervalic space similar to the Hanon Piano exercises (a wonderful resource for developing technique). Simon Kovar’s Bassoon book is also an excellent resource.

Download the exercise here

“The Split” in the three registers of the bassoon

This is a standard warm up for a lot of instruments. I’ve found it really helps build awareness of air flow as intervals increase and expand ascending and descending.

This is a good warm up for legato and sound production and how to negotiate the spin of the air stream.

This piece can also be played along with a drone and also on any starting note.

Forging A Path to the Future with Bassoon and Electro Music

For the last three months, I’ve been working on an experimental collaboration and a series of recording projects with composer Chiel Meijering in the electronic dance music (EDM) / electro-pop genre.

His original tracks are enhanced by the bassoon and it removes the stereotype of a bassoon (which has been more of an orchestral instrument) and takes it into a world of pop / electronic music.

In some of the tracks Meijering mixes excerpts from Gabrielli, Bach, and other old composers. He adds layers of electronic soundscapes and driving rhythms and melds the old and the new together into a fascinating musical graffiti.

This concept of having the ability to take the electro tracks and go out into the world and play along with them is an incredible opportunity for future musicians because this allows them to take a “cyber ensemble” into any venue at any time. This is a great avenue for some young musicians to start up their musical careers in an entrepreneurial way. It’s possible that in the future you will be able to play with cyber orchestras!

New Premiere Performance at the 2019 International Double Reed Society Conference in Tampa, Florida

I am pleased to announce that my proposal for a new concerto premiere for Bassoon & Strings will be performed in the evening on July 15th at the International Double Reed Society Conference. Visit the IDRS 2019 Conference website for more information!

IDRS 2019 ~ July 14-18, 2019, Tampa Florida at the School of Music of South Florida