Season 2 Episode 6 Niño Rubén (English & Spanish)

06/27/20 • 57 min

On this special bi-lingual episode I speak to Niño Rubén - a young and talented Spanish bassoonist.

He is joined by his friend Carmen Hildago, who assists us in translation.

One of the most fascinating, and innovative solo bassoonists currently. Rubén is also a great composer. He won the Special Prize of the 1stSeville Double Reed Society in Spain for his outstanding performance and musical talents. After his Bachelor studies, he became a finalist in the RTVE Virtuosos National Competition and started caving out his own unique path. Improvising and composing at a very young age, he has presented his own compositions at many festivals, and is particularly focused on researching the art of the flamenco.

We speak about interesting topics such as his passion for flamenco music, and the historical significance of the flamenco. We also talk about breaking barriers in classical music by making the bassoon the protoganist and soloist in concerts, how he started improvising and composing and his compositions and favourite concerts.

We also compare our creative process and discuss the connection between silence and creativity, how he found his own voice and compositional style and him searching and finding his artistic freedom. We also share some fun facts about ourselves and discuss collaborating on a Corona playlist together.

To find out more about him, please visit: https://www.ninoruben.net/

On this special bi-lingual episode I speak to Niño Rubén - a young and talented Spanish bassoonist.

He is joined by his friend Carmen Hildago, who assists us in translation.

To find out more about him, please visit: https://www.ninoruben.net/

Previous Episode

Season 2 Episode 5 Rachel Bullen

Rachel Bullen studied with Emanuel Abbühl and François Leleux in Europe after her initial studies in Melbourne. Rachel performed as an orchestral musician in Europe in many orchestras including the Netherlands Radio Chamber Orchestra, South Jutland Symphony Orchestra, and Aarhus Symphony Orchestra and has toured as a soloist in many European countries and she was a full-time chamber musician from 2010 - 2016 with Esbjerg Ensemble in Denmark. In 2016, Rachel returned to Australia permanently and played as guest principal oboe with Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, Orchestra Victoria, and acting principal with Adelaide Symphony for most of 2019.

Currently, Rachel teaches at the Melbourne Conservatorium of Music, and performs as a freelancer.

We discuss interesting her musical influences and musical journey from Melbourne to Europe and interesting topics such as the importance of playing as naturally and effortlessly as possible, the importance of giving students the freedom to teach themselves, her most memorable chamber concert experience, the psychology behind peak performance, dealing with performance anxiety and overcoming professional setbacks that may arise while working as a foreign musician in Europe.

Her website:

https://www.rachelbullenoboe.com

Study with Rachel:

https://www.playwithapro.com/live/Rachel-Bullen/

Next Episode

Season 2 Episode 7: Jaroslaw Augustyniak

Jaroslaw Augustyniak was born in Lodz, Poland in 1965. In 1988 he graduated with distinction from the Academy of Music in Łódź, Poland with a master’s degree in Bassoon and Chamber Music. A year later he was a laureate in several prestigious competitions and then Jarek furthered his studies under the guidance of Vincenzo Menghini - RAI Turin.

Jarek was appointed as Principal Bassoon of the BBC National Orchestra of Wales in December 2004. He joined BBC National Orchestra of Wales after a thirteen-year post as Principal Bassoon with the Basque National Orchestra, Spain.

His professional life has seen him to move from Poland, through Portugal, Spain and Denmark to the United Kingdom. He has been given the opportunity to play in almost all European countries and as far afield as the USA, Argentina, Chile and China - in many prestigious venues including Wien Konzerthaus, London Royal Albert Hall, Berlin Konzerthaus, Amsterdam Concertgebouw under many famous conductors. In addition, Jarek has fostered an active solo career,

He recorded soundtrack solo bassoon for the Anri Sala film “1395 Days Without Red” – followed by a solo appearance in Centre Georges Pompidou in Paris. During his career Jarek has been a guest principal in many festivals and orchestras like the London Symphony Orchestra and the BBC Philharmonic.

We speak about how he is coping with the Covid-19 lockdown, the opportunities that the pandemic could bring, the origins of his online lecture series "Ventus Optimus", his collaboration with contemporary composer Julia Plaut involving a vacuum cleaner, how his wide travels and close family life influenced his artistic life and the intricacies of playing in a film soundtrack.

To find out more about him, visit: https://www.jaroslawaugustyniak.com/

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