It was singing that began my lifelong love affair with music, and it is singing that has significantly influenced my bassoon playing.  When I am unsure about where to place a breath in a phrase, I will sing through the music and let that guide my decisions.  Something I remind myself of and talk with students about is the concept of “singing” while you are playing. Vocalists do not have keys to press but rely on pitch, muscle memory and good listening. Putting your fingers on the right keys is only part of what is needed to play in tune with others. When you sing you have no barrier between you and the musical idea you want to express.  As an instrumentalist I constantly strive for that transparency in my interpretation.

One of my favorite vocalists is Cecilia Bartoli. One piece that made an impression on me is Vocalise – Étude (en forme de habanera) written for voice and piano by Maurice Ravel.  Since this piece does not have any words it can easily be adapted for instrumentalists.  I love the way Cecilia Bartoli changes the timbre of her voice from soft and breathy to intense and full.  She also uses a wide range of vibrato; at times she sings with a completely straight tone, and at times she uses a wide and fast vibrato.  I was particularly struck by the way she plays with the time using rubato, giving the piece a very sensual and free flowing character.  When I decided to work on this piece a few years ago, this version inspired me to try some new ideas in my own playing by emmulating her phrasing, tone, and vibrato.

Below is a video I created of Cecilia Bartoli singing Vocalise – Étude (en forme de habanera) for voice and piano from her album Chant D’Amour.  Please click on the link below to listen.

Vocalise-Etude (en Forme de Habanera)

This video is my interpretation of Piece en Forme de Habanera arranged for bassoon and guitar.

“Inspired,” “Cool,” “Busy” and “Collaborative” … these are words I would use to describe Nico Muhly.

I listen to a wide variety of music — Brahms, The Cure, Stravinsky, Radiohead, Duke Ellington and Ella Fitzgerald — with the same enjoyment.  I think this is one reason I appreciate the unique collaborations that Nico Muhly seeks out in his own compositions.

Recently, I’ve been reading Nico Muhly’s blog and catching up on what he’s been doing at nicomuhly.com.  He is similar in some ways to Yo-Yo Ma in that he is a classically trained musician and composer that likes to collaborate with musicians from a variety of genres including Sufjan Stevens, Jónsi from Sigur Rós, Björk and Son Lux.  He composed the film score for “The Reader” and has several recordings out of his concert music including  “I Drink The Air Before Me” and “Mother Tongue.”  Last year his opera “Two Boys” premiered in London.

I was particularly struck by “I Drink The Air Before Me.”  It is an “evening-length score for Stephen Petronio’s dance piece bearing the same name.”  This is what Nico Muhly wrote about the instrumentation:

I wanted the ensemble to be a little quirky community of people living by the edge of the sea: a busybody flute, a wise viola, and the masculine, workmanlike bassoon, trombone, and upright bass. The piano acts as an agitator, an unwelcome visitor, bearing with it aggressive electronic noises and rhythmic interruptions.

Below is a video of a movement from “I Drink The Air Before Me” that features the bassoon, “Salty Dog.”

I love this next collaboration between Nico Muhly and Jónsi – Live at Bethnal Green.   Jónsi is the lead singer for an Incelandic band Sigur Rós, a favorite band of mine.

Go sing, too loud
Make your voice break- Sing it out
Go scream, do shout
Make an earthquake…

Below is a video of “Go Do.”

Nico Muhly is a musician and composer that is doing the kind of creative collaboration that I’m interested in.  He adds his unique musical voice to more traditional concert music and in collaborations with indie rock and pop artists.  His work has been inspiring to me and I look forward to hearing more of his projects in the future.  Create Beauty!

The Goat Rodeo Sessions is a project developed by world renowned musicians Yo-Yo Ma, cello; Chris Thile, mandolin/fiddle/guitar/gamba/vocals; Edgar Meyer, bass/gamba/piano; and Stuart Duncan, fiddle/mandolin/fretless banjo.  All the music on this album was written by Thile, Meyer and Duncan.  One of my favorite instrumental tracks is “Where’s my bow?”  Who knows, you might hear it arranged for Third Wheel in the future.  These gifted musicians are joined on two tracks by vocalist Aoife O’Donovan who also co-wrote my next favorite track “Here and Heaven.”

“Things can fall apart, or threaten to, for many reasons, and then there’s got to be a leap of faith. Ultimately, when you’re at the edge, you have to go forward or backward; if you go forward, you have to jump together.” Yo-Yo Ma

Below is a video of “Here and Heaven.”

Below is a video of “Attaboy”

In case you missed it, the ladies of Third Wheel were guests on KUSC‘s Arts Alive program with Brian Lauritzen on September 17, 2011. You can listen to our lovely voices here: http://www.kusc.org/artsalive/

Or, if you want, check out this transcribed version below and learn a little bit more about what it really means to be Third Wheel.

Arts Alive broadcast:  September 17, 2011  8 a.m.

Host Brian Lauritzen

BL: Long gone are the days of posting an ad for a musician in the local free newspaper or on campus bulletin boards. Bassoonist Rebecca Rivera made a connection with local woodwind ensemble Third Wheel and its flutist Karin Kantenwein through her Facebook page. The two musicians had crossed paths while students at USC.

RR: At the beginning of the year, I joined Facebook, and I made a bassoon page, and put some recordings up, and wanted to be able to connect with other players I had met in the freelance world, and so I became friends with Karin again, and then she contacted me about possibly playing some chamber music, seeing if it would be a good fit, and we had a really nice time.

BL: Rivera replaces bassoonist Rich Ramberg who formed the group with flutist Kantenwein and clarinetist Adrienne Geffen in 2007. Their aim is to perform new music that doesn’t get a lot of airplay, and to present pieces that borrow from the musical language of jazz, folk and rock. Rivera says the digital language comes in handy when communicating with contemporary composers.

RR: There are composers that are friends, people that we know, and also people all around the country.  So you can email them, send them clips. For the last concert that we did we were able to do some videos of coachings with the composers and ask them questions about articulations. And it’s a really neat experience, especially when my background is primarily doing orchestral repertoire and not a lot of contemporary music, so it’s a neat experience to learn new techniques on the instrument too.

BL: The group also curates a concert series known as Wine & Wheels – a casual concert experience that mixes wine and food with music. It starts up again October 2^nd with the Vientos Trio on the bill. Flutist Karin Kantenwein says the series allows them to bridge the gap between new music and standard repertoire.

KK: So we can take our audiences through an experience, and that experience is maybe a lot of our repertoire that’s standard for a trio – a lot of people don’t know. You know, composers like Muczynski and Peeters and Schickele and some of those. So we bring those pieces to our concert, and then plus we bring in new music by friends of ours and local LA people as well.

BL: Composers outside of LA are starting to seek out the group as well. Clarinetist Adrienne Geffen:

AG: The Wine & Wheels performance that we had last June, we premiered a piece by Kyle Hovatter, a composer from up in Northern California. And he found us on YouTube. He watched some of our videos and liked our sound, liked what we were doing, contacted us, and wrote a piece for us.

BL: The all-female group will perform a program of music by women composers today at 3 p.m. at the Good Shepherd Chapel at Concordia University in Irvine, thanks in part to a grant from the organization New York Women Composers. Clarinetist Adrienne Geffen says it’s opportunities like these that get the group really excited.

AG: I think one of the biggest things why we started Third Wheel was to create our own opportunities. You know, as young musicians just having finished school, we didn’t want to wait around for the phone call to come for the big gig. So we realized that if we got together, we could really make something ourselves and have our own voice.

BL: Third Wheel performs at the Good Shepherd Chapel at Concordia University in Irvine today at 3 p.m. Their Wine & Wheels series starts October 2^nd at Fancifull Gift Baskets and Fine Foods, in Hollywood. For more information, visit thirdwheeltrio.com.

Third Wheel had quite an eventful week.

Rather than blab on about it, I think it would be much better to post an array of photos that we took throughout the week.

Adventure #1:  Interview at KUSC!

In case you missed it, we were featured on KUSC 91.5′s Arts Alive program this week. What fun! You can listen to the interview here: http://www.kusc.org/artsalive/ . Check out the September 17, 2011, episode!

Karin and Rebecca just outside the KUSC studio.

Rebecca and Adrienne at the KUSC studios. See those cabinets on the left? That's where they keep all the CDs of all the amazing music they play on the air!

All of the Third Wheel ladies at KUSC!

Ooooh, pretty logo.

Adventure #2: Heels & Wheels

The big event we were promoting on the radio was Heels & Wheels, a fun concert that we performed on Saturday afternoon.  Funded in part by a grant from New York Women Composers, the performance featured an entire program of music written by women. We had a lot of fun, and we wore fancy heels!  Here’s some of the before, during, and after photos:

You could say our quarters backstage were just a tad bit cramped.

This is me pretending not to be anxious. Just start the show already!

What a fabulous collection of heels!

Here we are onstage at the beautiful Good Shepherd Chapel at Concordia University. It was a beautiful day outside!

At the end of the day, the heels just have to come off!

So there you have it, just a normal weekend in the life of Third Wheel!  Whew!

And we’re not done yet.  Today we performed on our friend Mark Popeney‘s doctoral recital at USC, this week we’re performing at Pacific Symphony‘s opening night gala celebration, and then in just two weeks, we kick off the Wine & Wheels concert series!  Stay tuned here for more info, more photos, and more fun!!

Adrienne, Cameron and Karin after a performance in Redondo Beach

The event was the Concert for the Arts, put on by the Friends of Redondo Beach Arts.  And what friends they are!  In a unique twist, the audience was seated onstage and the entire setup was reversed — the performers faced the back wall, and the audience faced out into the beautiful, empty theater of the Redondo Beach Performing Arts Center.  We had the honor of sharing the program with several other fantastic artists, including poets and a very young pianist. There was artwork displayed in the lobby, and the Friends hosted a reception after the show. For us as performers, that’s usually our favorite part! Not just because we are almost always hungry and thirsty after a performance, but also because it is such a great chance to be able to meet members of the audience just like you. We love finding out what was their favorite piece, hearing about their love for music, and just making a connection.

Cameron Domingues was our bassoonist for the evening, and she did a great job.  Karin and I have known Cameron for a number of years, and we were glad to get a chance to play with her. You can meet Cameron and find out a little more about her in this fun backstage interview:

Thanks to everyone at the Friends of Redondo Beach Arts for asking us to be part of this evening, we really did have a blast! You are such gracious hosts and truly assembled a great program. Our favorite of the night was the Brazilian group Samba Society, and while all members of the group were incredibly talented and energetic, this percussionist that you see here was just the most fun to watch. This is why we play music — it makes us feel good, it makes us happy, and it makes us want to DANCE!

This year, we were delighted to have three composers in the audience, and I think everyone would agree that having them there to introduce their music added so much to the performance.

Jenni Brandon took us into the daily life of a spider in her charming “Spider Suite,” Seth Shafer gave us a flowing glimpse in “Water, Flowing Upwards,” and Adrienne Albert took us on a seaside holiday in “Menage a Trio.” They are all such lovely people and we are so grateful to them for their artistry.

Rebecca Rivera, Adrienne Geffen and Karin Kantenwein with composers Adrienne Albert and Jenni Brandon after a great performance at Wine & Wheels 2011!

If you want to see just a hint of the beautiful music you missed, check out this video — it’s the final movement of Adrienne Albert’s “Menage a Trio.”

Other fantastic composers that we featured throughout the program, but weren’t able to join us, were Kyle Hovatter (who you met in our YouTube interview!), James Taylor, Paquito D’Rivera, Paul Hanson, Catherine McMichael, and Allan Blank.

You might even say that we had such a good time at this concert that we’re just going to have to do it again. You’re right! But more on that topic later.

After the concert, in classic Third Wheel style, we retired to our favorite British pub in Hollywood, the Cat and Fiddle. Refreshing merriment and delicious food for all!! 

Special thanks to Rebecca Rivera for performing with us on this concert. She did a fabulous job and was so much fun to work with!

Meet composer Kyle Hovatter, and find out why he was interested in writing a new composition for Third Wheel:

Take a listen to Adrienne Albert’s piece, “Menage a Trio,” and find out more about her writing process:

And finally, what on earth are these girls doing?!?

There’s only one way to find out … come to Wine & Wheels on Sunday!

You can make a reservation online here, or call 323.466.7654.  Doors open at 3:30 p.m. and the concert begins at 4 p.m. The program will feature world premieres from Kyle Hovatter and Seth Shafer, along with the music of living (and women!) composers Adrienne Albert, Jenni Brandon and Catherine McMichael. Don’t forget the sophisticated wine tasting from Fancifull Gift Baskets with plenty of delicious snacks to go along with the music.

What a fun evening! Scott and Jana Harvey were there and provided all the wine (Scott Harvey and Jana Wines) for the evening, and gave a lovely presentation about their winery. It’s always wonderful to meet the people behind a product, especially when they are so passionate about what they do.

The event organizers did such a great job of putting together an elegant party. (Hiring Third Wheel is always a great decision!) One element of a great party these days is having a photobooth. In almost every circumstance, this is a brilliant idea and gives a fun memento to all the guests. (The folks from Souverazzi did a great job!) Here’s where they made a mistake, though — they actually let Third Wheel use the photobooth. Bad idea. Mass silliness ensued, and way too much photographic evidence. (Please also note that there was no wine involved here! We are consummate professionals, despite what this looks like.)

Here are just a few of the gems from our photo fun. If you want to see the whole album, check it out on our Facebook page. (Have you “liked” us yet??)