Legends of Reed

Michaela Špačková is a curious and creative artist who seamlessly integrates her passions for music, humanity and nature into her musical work, lifestyle and intercultural activities – from music education concerts to her development of permaculture gardening.

She regularly performs works dedicated to her for solo bassoon by contemporary composers, She began playing the bassoon at the age of 12 and made her debut five years later with the PKF Prague Philharmonia, following appearances with the ORF Vienna, Munich Chamber Orchestra and Czech Philharmonic, receiving more than 20 prizes at various competitions such as the ARD Music Competition and Prague Spring Competition, and performing worldwide in the most prestigious halls such as the Berlin Philharmonie, Philharmonie de Paris, Suntory Hall Tokyo, etc.

She was solo bassoonist in the Konzerthausorchester Berlin with Christoph Eschenbach and Academist with the Staatskapelle Berlin under Daniel Barenboim, played with conductors such as Sir S. Rattle, Z. Mehta, I. Fischer, W. Jurowski and others.

In this episode, we speak about her start on the bassoon, her experiences and insights on taking part and winning numerous competitions, some of her favorite contemporary composers, educational music concerts, her passion for permaculture gardening, how she overcome a challenging moment in her career and we are joined by a super-cute guest right at the end!

Legends of Reed is sponsored by Barton Cane. Use coupon code "legendsofreed" for free shipping.

Since 2022, Sanja is artist of the French instrument maker Buffet Crampon Paris, playing oboe model „Légende”. With their support,  she is bringing to life new Oboe Concerto composed by Nimrod Borenstein. World premiere will happen on March 8, 2024 with Beograde Philharmonic Orchestra, as part of 100 Years Anniversary celebration of the orchestra.

Highly active as soloist, she performed with Belgrade Philharmonic Orchestra, Al Bustan Festival Orchestra, Macedonia Philharmonic Orchestra, Salzburg Kammerphilharmone, Vojvodina Symphony Orchestra, Ensemble Metamorphosis, Zagreb Soloists, Slovene Army Band, Erdödy Chamber Orchestra from Hungary and traditional tamboura orchestra from Slovenia.

Sanja is associate professor for orchestral studies for woodwind instruments at the Academy of Arts in Novi Sad. Until 2024 she was solo oboist of the Belgrade Philharmonic Orchestra for 12 years.

In this episode, I interview the inspiring oboist, Sanja Romić. We speak about topics such as how she started playing the oboe, her collaboration with Buffet Crampon and the oboe model Légende, her upcoming premiere of a oboe concerto by Nimrod Borenstein, to commemorate the 100 year anniversary of her orchestra, her podcast on playing and living with ease, her future plans after leaving an orchestral career, and more.

Legends of Reed is sponsored by Barton Cane, for free shipping on any order, use coupon code "legendsofreed".

To find out about Sanja Romić

In this episode, I catch up with the inspiring and creative jazz bassoonist Michael Rabinowitz over his illustrious jazz career and we chat about topics such as his early days of studying at SUNY Purchase, how he amplifies the bassoon for the jazz stand, a life in jazz and improvisation, moving to NYC, making a living while balancing family life, his latest album "Next Chapter", and his recent activities. 

Find out more about Michael here, and

listen/stream & purchase his album "New Chapter" on his website:

After a long absence, LOR returns with the wonderful bassoonist, Lola Descours.

Lola is currently the principal bassoon in the Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra, under chief conductor, L. Shani.

In this episode, Lola speaks to me about topics such as her concert and touring with the Rotterdam Philharmonic, her tips for auditions and competitions, her inspiration behind her album "Bassoon Steppes" and the charming video series "Bassoon in the Wind" with filmmaker, Pierre Dugowson. And she also shares with me her definition of success.

A very inspiring interview and the musical extract is from the First Movement of the Rachmaninoff Cello Sonata in G Minor, Op. 19 from her album, with pianist Paloma Kouider. Her debut album was released in 2022 on Orchid Music and received critical acclaim in multiple countries.

Follow Lola on:

French oboist Philippe Tondre has secured a place among the finest musicians of his generation. «Master of the oboe » (Bonner General Anzeiger), his music-making is packed with emotional sensitivity and stunning virtuosity.

Principal oboe of the Philadelphia Orchestra, the Chamber Orchestra of Europe, and the SWR Symphony Orchestra, Philippe Tondre is also a member of the Mito Chamber Orchestra, the newly-founded Kammer Ensemble Paris, and Principal Oboe of the Saito Kinen Orchestra Matsumoto. From 2014 until 2020 he was Solo Oboe of the Budapest Festival Orchestra and from 2016 until 2017 Solo Oboe of the Gewandhaus Orchestra in Leipzig.

He has worked with eminent conductors, amongst others Seiji Ozawa, Yannick Nezet-Séguin, Sir Simon Rattle, Gustavo Dudamel, Andris Nelsons, Ivan Fischer, Daniele Gatti, Teodor Currentzis, Franz Welser- Möst, Sir Roger Norrington, Fabio Luisi, Herbert Blomstedt, Esa-Pekka Salonen und Daniel Harding.

In November 2015 Philippe Tondre was nominated Professor for Oboe at the Hochschule für Musik Saar. He gives masterclasses in China, Taiwan, Japan, Spain, Switzerland, and Germany.

Philippe Tondre plays a Buffet Crampon « Légende » Oboe.

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In this episode, I speak to Philippe about his early musical journey, the key teachers and mentors that had a great influence on him, what studying with Maurice Bourguewas like; his tips for competitions and peak performance, why having active sports and exercise regime is important for wind players, how he toggles between playing in the US and Europe, his upcoming projects, recordings and concerts, the French school of oboe, and his personal tips for young musicians.

I recently interviewed the fabulous bassoon soloist and conductor Peter Whelan.

Peter is not only a concerto soloist, he is in constant demand as a soloist and chamber musician. He has performed in many prestigious venues around the world, and he is also the founder and Artistic Director of Ensemble Marsyas, and the Artistic Director of the Irish Baroque Orchestra. He is also an Artistic Partner of the Irish National Opera.

We speak about many interesting and inspiring topics like his musical journey, how he found his voice in early and baroque music, his studies with Sergio Azzolini, how he got into conducting and directing, his work with the Ensemble Marsyas, how we can stay inspired when performing and interpreting overly-played repertoire, “the game” in interpreting early music, the importance of musicians in finding “a middle ground”, his upcoming projects and he speaks about his new disc, “Mozart’s Bassoon. Works for solo Bassoon”. He even teaches me some Irish slang.

Listen to his album here:

Welcome back to a brand new season of LOR.

In this episode (recorded in summer 2020) I interview Alban Wesly, a musician based in Amsterdam. He is proud to be the bassoonist/founding member of Calefax (Amsterdam) and to have been the bassoonist of Ensemble Musikfabrik (Cologne) for 22 years. Since September 2018 Alban teaches bassoon at the Royal Conservatoire in The Hague.

As the bassoonist of the award winning reed quintet Calefax and the internationally acclaimed Ensemble Musikfabrik Alban  is considered as one of the most versatile bassoonists of this time. Calefax is one of the longest operating chamber music groups in the Netherlands, and worldwide trendsetter for a new genre: the Reed Quintet. 

We talk about interesting topics such as touring, his interest in new music, tips on maintaining a chamber ensemble, making programming choices, and a funny travel anecdote of the "airline baggage crisis" in Aberdeen and much more.

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.

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. 

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:

I am very excited to share an interview I did with Rebekah Heller that was conducted in early April.

Rebekah is a solo bassoonist based in New York and has been praised for her “flair” and “deftly illuminated” performances by The New York Times.

Not only  a uniquely dynamic solo and collaborative artist, she is fiercely committed to expanding the modern repertoire for the bassoon and has appeared as soloist with many prestigious orchestras such as The New York Philharmonic and is co-artistic director of the International Contemporary Ensemble.

Besides performing she has an active teaching career and teaches at the International Contemporary Ensemble's summer program, Ensemble Evolution, and is also on the bassoon faculty at the Mannes School of Music at The New School College of Performing Arts.

We had a fun chat about many topics including contemporary music, commissioning and working with composers, fund-raising, extended technique, covid-19 and share some of our surfing mishaps!

Solo bassoonist, Nadina Mackie Jackson is the most widely recorded Canadian bassoonist in history with 13 solo albums, 8 chamber music recordings and dozens of albums with symphony, chamber and historical instrument orchestras. A true communicator, she combines her love for images, words and music in many unique concert series.

Nadina speaks about her musical origins, and how she came to become a solo bassoonist. She not only produces her own concerts but she is also a visual artist.

She discusses key topics like the importance of releasing music, fundraising and the importance of having a written contract. She is very mindful of the challenges faced by young bassoonists and explains that obstacles actually test one’s commitment. She also shares on her concert series “Bassoon Out Loud”, “Darwood’s Wild Bassoon”, “Ophelia Speaks”. She established the Council of Canadian Bassoonists to support young Canadian bassoonists and discusses her teaching career. I even find out why she has blue hair!

James is an artist of the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, the International Contemporary Ensemble (ICE) and Decoda, co-principal oboist of the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra and Artistic and Executive Director of Tertulia, a chamber music series that takes place in restaurants in New York and San Francisco  He is a member of the oboe and chamber music faculties of Stony Brook University and the Manhattan School of Music.

On this episode, I speak to James about very interesting topics:

· his musical origins,

· his chamber music series, Tertulia,

· the power of chamber music & how he came to focus on it

· what qualities presenters look for when booking artists

· how to  “turn the dial” as classical musicians and grow new audiences

· how he stays inspired and how to keep an interpretation “fresh”

· the benefits of having a life outside music

· his "dream programme” and more.

To find out more about James, please visit:

Kristian is a young and accomplished Norwegian Composer & Bassoonist.  He is currently Principal Bassoon at The Baltic Opera in Poland since 2018. He studied bassoon with Robert Ronnes, Dag Jensen, Ole K. Dahl and Klaus Thunemann.

His YouTube channel has been awarded one of top 25 channels in the world and he tirelessly contributes to the bassoon world by his many arrangements, restorations and his research for extended technique, fingerings and his discoveries of unknown works. He became a Moosmann artist at age 26.

Quote from interview:

“I think that professionalism doesn’t automatically come with winning an audition.”

Some topics we discuss:

- the current conservatory education system and subjects conservatories Kristian feels conservatories should focus on to help students get a job.

- The wide range of career options available now for a musician, besides the orchestral path.

- an ideal practicing schedule, the importance of challenging oneself and pushing one against one’s limits. 

- The advice he received from Klaus Thunemann on practicing 

- Some of his personal audition tips and how to stand out from the crowd.

- What motivates him

- How we can promote the bassoon

- Which composer he would like to have lunch with. 

- His interesting story of him playing Rite of Spring for the first time and the surprise guest in the audience. 

- His collaboration with Bernd Moosmann to develop the bassoon’s mechanic.

To find out more about Kristian, please visit:

Jeffrey Lyman is Professor of Bassoon at the University of Michigan. has established himself as one of the premier performers, teachers, and historians of the bassoon in the U.S.  

He coordinates two popular YouTube channels: one with more than 160 live recordings of Lyman and his students at the University of Michigan, and the other featuring trios and duos for oboe, bassoon and piano with Nancy Ambrose King and Martin Katz. 

On this episode, I find out how 

· Jeffrey maintains such an exciting & diverse and bassoon studio. 

· We talk about one of his students - Euceph Yousef El-Magharbel who makes cool, bassoon funk videos. His recommendations for unique composers. 

· The weirdest places he has ever performed and practiced in.

· The most important career advice he has ever received.

· We discuss should musicians (ever) accept non-paying gigs for exposure.

· How can one deal with naysayers and detractors as a musician, for e.g. internet trolls? 

· How to commission a composer as a musician

· If he could sum up your life in a book title, what would it be?

· Some of his upcoming projects 

· What he likes to do in his free time and hobbies.

Recorded: 12 December 2018

Please note that this interview has quite some background noise from the concert hall.

I managed to have a chat with Sophie Dervaux backstage in the world-renowned Vienna Musikverein Hall in December 2018. Sophie joined the Vienna State Opera Orchestra and the Vienna Philharmonic as principal bassoon in 2015. Previously, she was principal contrabassoon of the Berlin Philharmonic from 2013 until 2015. 

I find out about Sophie’s favourite composers, upcoming projects and other interesting topics. Sophie shares with us her musical origins and how she chose the bassoon, after initially starting on the guitar and clarinet. 

She also tells us some of her most memorable concerts, being an advocate for the bassoon and the responsibility of the new generation to promote and create awareness for the instrument. She also takes us back to the day she won the job at the Vienna State Opera. 

Enjoy listening, and subscribe or share!

To find out more about Sophie, please visit her website:

Audun is the Principal Bassoon of the Danish National Symphony Orchestra. He teaches Bassoon at the Royal Danish Academy of Music and is Associate Prof. of Bassoon at The Oslo Academy of Music. I managed to catch up with him in person, in Hamburg after his two-day masterclass at Tutti Fagotti. Audun is currently on sabbatical leave from his orchestral position in Copenhagen.

Find out about Audun's recent tour to Shanghai with Lucerne Festival Orchestra, his opinion on sound, and auditioning, the importance of vowels, mental strength and we round off with a fun chat about the Vikings.

To find out more about Audun's bassoon studio:

Malte is the Professor of Bassoon at Folkwang University of the Arts, in Essen, Germany. 

He is an exceptional teacher, soloist, and leads a very vibrant and successful bassoon class. 

Find out:

1) what he loves the most of teaching & coaching young people

2) the many career routes a student can now pursue in classical music

3) his approach in bringing out the best in his students

4) his main musical inspirations

5) what kind of reeds he uses

6) the reason why he retired from NDR Radiophilharmonie 

7) his fondest memories of playing with NDR 

8) how to approach stressful moments 

9) the importance of self-management & self-talk

10) what he enjoys doing in his free time

Join in his next masterclass at Starnberger Musiktage: 

Paul is an award-winning jazz and fusion bassoonist with a unique musical voice.

Podcast notes:

1) His musical background and him finding his calling in the bassoon

2) Despite his classical training and being told it was “a hard road ahead”, his love for improvisation shifted him seriously towards jazz, groove and funk

3) His love for spontaneity & improvisation 

4) His practical tips on how to get better at improvisation

5) His personal set-up to play amplified bassoon

6) How he started working with Cirque du Soleil’s ZED and his time in Japan

7) His reflections on his career, about the high level of bassoon playing worldwide

8) Bassoon is not widely known for jazz & rhythmic playing

9) His main musical inspirations and favourite bands

10) Who he would like to collaborate with (living/dead)

11) One of his biggest career lessons

12) His upcoming projects 

To find out more about Paul visit: