OboeBass! The Vecchione/Erdahl Duo Newletter/Update: June 30, 2013

Dear friends of OboeBass! – The Vecchione/Erdahl Duo, & Pages of Music with Rolf and Carrie

It’s been a while since last we wrote (9/21/12), and we haven’t been standing still!  2012-13 was a busy year for us, both individually, and as a duo.  Carrie loved filling in teaching the oboe studio at UW Eau Claire for Christa Garvey’s 2012-13 sabbatical, in addition to her ongoing teaching in our home studio and at the MacPhail Center for Music.  Rolf continues working with his growing bass studios at Gustavus Adolphus and Luther Colleges.  Our cars get a workout!

We had a great fall, snowy winter, and spring with recitals and educational outreach programs for the Prairie Regional Cultural Alliance in Morris, MN; 13 performances for the Kitchigami Regional Library System from Brainerd to Bemidji to Keliher; 13 Twin Cities performances of our Classical and Jazzy Nutcracker and Stories of the Carols programs; a Sample Night Live “Audience Favorites” program performance at the History Theater in St. Paul (as the first classical artists voted “audience favorite” in 5 years of their monthly programs!).   In March we toured the Washington, DC area, with a recital at George Mason University, Pages of Music Programs in DC schools, and an appearance at Rolf’s alma mater, Peabody Conservatory, to share our entrepreneurial story with Gerald Klickstein’s Career & Creativity Seminar.  Our other out-of-state excursion was for a recital and educational programs in charming Three Lakes, Wisconsin.

A major accomplishment of 2012 was the recording, production, and release of two new CDs, both of compositions by Margi Griebling-Haigh.  Askelad and the Seven Silver Ducks is a book/CD combo retelling a classic Norwegian folk tale, illustrated by the composer, complete with typecasting bass as trolls and oboe as ducks!  This music was composed for us with support from a Jerome Composers Commissioning Program grant from the American Composers Forum.  The Story of Babar the Little Elephant (oboe/English horn, bass, piano, and narrator) is the piece that introduced us to Margi and her work.  We recorded both pieces at MPR studios in January of 2012 and were thrilled to collaborate with Margi as producer and Cameron Wiley as engineer on both projects, joined by pianist William Eddins and MPR host Steve Staruch as narrator on the Babar recording.  Links to purchase our recordings are available on our website, and all pieces should shortly be available (if they aren’t already) on CDBaby.com, Amazon.com, iTunes, and other standard online sources.

Ongoing and going forward, we’ve been fortunate to be awarded new grants for our duo concert touring and educational programs that will keep us busy through spring of 2014!  The new grants we’ve been awarded and are working on are:

• An Arts Learning Grant from the Metropolitan Regional Arts Council to present series of five monthly music learning programs to seven Twin Cities Area senior residences, from March-July 2013 (Bloomington, Edina, Minneapolis, Golden Valley, and Minnetonka).
• An Arts Learning Grant from the Minnesota State Arts Board for series of seven monthly music learning programs between June and December at ten senior facilities around the state in Red Wing, Rochester, Northfield, Stillwater, Woodbury, and Spring Park.
• An Arts Tour Minnesota Grant for 24 recitals and educational programs between May 1, 2013 and April 30, 2014, at Lake Crystal and Mapleton libraries (Aug. 1) Bigfork’s Edge Center (Sept. 27), New York Mills (Nov. 22-23), First Lutheran Church Stories of the Carols program (Dec. 1) and recital TBA in St. Peter, Mankato Library (Jan. 11, 2014)  TBA concert and 3 educational programs for the Northern Lakes Arts Association in Ely, and 10 TBA performances for the Great River Regional Libraries around St. Cloud.

(These activities made possible by the voters of Minnesota through a grant from the Metropolitan Regional Arts Council, thanks to a legislative appropriation from the arts and cultural heritage fund; and by the voters of Minnesota through a grant from the Minnesota State Arts Board, thanks to a legislative appropriation from the arts and cultural heritage fund.)

For best results keeping track of us, including these 129 performances (Uffda and Hooray!!), check out our oboebass.com website calendar, “like” and follow our facebook page, www.facebook.com/oboebass, or shoot us an email at info@oboebass.com.  While you’re here visiting www.oboebass.com, browse around.  We keep updating events, features, and photos, including adding this newsletter to the blog section.

The season is set, sponsors are lined up, and we’re writing grants for our seventh year of hosting and organizing the Coffee Concerts series we founded at the Lakeville Area Arts Center (LAAC).  We’re grateful to our season sponsors and supporters, including Kingsley Shores Senior Community, Caribou Coffee, Cornerstone Copy, and Valley Natural Foods.  Here is the schedule of 2014 performances, all 2:00 Sunday afternoons at the LAAC.

• January 12 – Minnesota Opera Resident Artists, mezzo-soprano Victoria Vargas and tenor John Robert Lindsey
• February 9 – Chestnut Brass Company (all sorts of ancient and modern instruments and repertoires)
• April 27 – The Bakken Trio (Grieg and Debussy)
• May 18 – Maria Jette, soprano with the Vecchione/Erdahl Duo (baroque to Grieg to jazz)

For more info about these coffee concerts, “like” and follow www.facebook.com/coffeeconcerts.

As always, we’d love to see you at one of our performances!  If we’re not playing in your neck of the woods, or continent, please put in a plug for us and let us know of venues and contacts in your area that have been underserved by the world’s only professional oboe/bass duo!  We’re now busy lining up work and writing grants for on beyond April 2014, and filling in any schedule gaps between now and then.

Thanks for following us and for reading this far!

Best wishes!

Carrie and Rolf

OboeBass!  The Vecchione/Erdahl Duo
Pages of Music with Rolf and Carrie
www.oboebass.com
info@oboebass.com
www.facebook.com/oboebass