Bassoon virtuoso Ezequiel Fainguersch

LOCK HAVEN, Pa. - Noted Argentine bassoonist Ezequiel Fainguersch will be conducting a master class at Lock Haven University on Friday, October 16. The event, which will take place from 2:30 -3:30 in Sloan 121, is free and open to the public. Students, faculty, and townspeople are invited to attend this most worthwhile and educational event.

A master class is a dynamic interaction between a guest performer and upper-level music students in the presence of an audience. Each student is asked to play a selection, following which the instructor critiques the performer’s technique and interpretation. The student then plays the piece again, utilizing the instructor’s feedback. The audience has the opportunity to hear a mini-concert and benefit from the experience and insight of the visiting artist.

According to Mahlon Grass, chair of the LHU music department and himself a bassoonist, “We are privileged to have an exceptionally gifted, world-class performer on our campus.”

Fainguersch will be the guest bassoonist at the first Williamsport Symphony concert of the season on Sunday, October 18. He will perform Wolgang Amadeus Mozart’s Bassoon Concerto in Bb Major, one of the world’s great concertos. The concert will be held at the Community Arts Center in Williamsport beginning at 3:00 p.m.

Mr. Fainguersch is principal bassoonist of the Orquesta Filarmonica de Chile and professor of bassoon at the Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile. Fainguersch has served as principal of numerous top level orchestras around the globe, including the Teatro Colon Opera Orchestra in Buenos Aires, Sao Paulo State Symphony Orchestra of Brazil, Philharmonie der Nationen in Hamburg,Germany, the Sarasota Opera Orchestra and Cyprus State Chamber Orchestra. He has appeared at some of the world’s top music festivals, including the Casals Festival and Spoleto Festival USA.

First prize winner of both the Antorchas Chamber Music Competition and the Indiana University Bassoon Competition, Fainguersch is also the recipient of numerous prestigious scholarships, including the Fulbright Scholarship, the Anthony and Olympia Barbera Music Scholarship, and the Antorchas Foundation Music Scholarship.

Together with clarinetist Jorge Montilla, Mr. Fainguersch is a founder/member of the Latin American Ensemble Taku with whom he has been touring in America since its first appearance in Puerto Rico in 2003. The ensemble’s new CD, including pieces by Piazzolla, Herrerias, Villa-Lobos, and Desenes, will be released in December 2007.

In great demand to give master classes and workshops around the world, he has been regularly collaborating with the Fundacion de Orquestas Juveniles in Chile since 2006 and has led various master classes and music festivals showcasing young and gifted musicians, focusing on the development and musical style of 20th century Latin-American music.