Musician Profile - Bonnie Wolfgang, Principal Bassoon

TPS - What is your favorite orchestral piece to play, and why?
BW - Any of the Mahler Symphonies. I love them all. I find them imaginative, filled with the most colorful timbres and constantly changing thematic material which retains its cohesiveness and is profoundly thrilling!


TPS - Your biography says that you were raised in a musical family. Please tell us a bit about your family.
BW - I was raised in a small town in Pennsylvania where my father was the whole music program from grade school to high school band etc. I was the oldest child and started on piano and followed into clarinet, the instrument that my father also played. My brothers, three of them, followed on piano and each began to learn wind instruments as well. My oldest brother played the french horn, followed by the next brother who played oboe and the youngest brother played flute. My father thought "almost a woodwind quintet" Hmmm, we don't need two clarinets so I was designated to learn the bassoon so that our family would have its own Woodwind Quintet! We performed many small concerts in that area and each of the children went to music schools. I went to Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia, soloed with the Philadelphia Orchestra under Eugene Ormandy in 1966, and ended up as Principal Bassoon here in Phoenix for thirty four years. My oldest brother went to Temple University and received a doctorate in Music Education and he has taught in Eugene, Oregon and across the world in London, Greece and Ecuador. My next brother, Randall, went to Curtis Institute of Music as well as I and is now the Principal Oboe of the New York City Ballet and the New York City Opera a well as performing with Orpheus and many other chamber orchestras.

Only my youngest brother decided to branch out and do other creative things, but still plays a mean piano!



TPS - What orchestral piece(s) have you yet to perform that is on your wish list?
BW - I have played all the standard literature and can not think of any orchestral piece I still wish to experience. They are probably out there, and I am open to new works, but I still love all the "Romantics" and "Classics" as well as "Baroque" which offers a relaxing change of pace!



TPS - You recently formed your own jewelry company, Coloratura. How did your interest in creating jewelry begin?
BW - I have always enjoyed working with my hands. When I was in my twenties, I sewed everything imaginable: my wedding dress, men's and women's suits, clothing for all my family and children when very young. I even made drapes and upholstered furniture. Then I got too busy as my three young sons grew and my orchestra job became more demanding so making bassoon reeds became the dexterous application for creativity-(shaving reeds, wrapping wire etc.) Of course, this was not all that creative or beautiful, and I always enjoyed looking at jewelry, especially earrings! I really taught myself by copying and inventing the shapes and designs that appealed to me. Textures, colors and shapes were so much more fun and creative to work with so I began to make my hobby a company called Coloratura. Actually, I have become more involved with family affairs and have not had nearly as much time to invest in it; however, examples of my work can be seen in the Phoenix Symphony Gift Shop as well as the Herberger Gift Shop.



TPS - If you were forced to choose a different instrument within the orchestra to play, which would you choose?
BW - If I were forced to choose a different instrument within the orchestra to play, I would play the piano. If I could play the cello, I would choose it because of its glorious sound and expansive dynamic range as the bassoon is so much more limited in sound, color, and literature!



TPS - If you were to create a 10-song playlist of your favorite pieces (classical or non-classical), what would they be?
BW -
Mahler: 1st Symphony
Prokofiev: Romeo and Juliet
Bartok: Concerto for Orchestra
Richard Strauss: Till Eulenspiegel's Merry Pranks
Mozart: Requiem, Izak Pearlman's rendition of Sarasate: Carmen-Fantasy (and anything he has recorded) Vladimir Ashkenazy's recording of Rachmaninov: Piano Concerto No.2 (and anything he has recorded)
Igor Stravinsky: Histoire du Soldat and Pulchinella Suite
Yo-Yo Ma's recording of the Barber: Cello Concerto (and his performance of the Bach: Suite No. 6 Sarabande!)
Beethoven: Missa Solemnis, and Vivaldi: The Four Seasons