UPDATE: The Bassoon Incubator project now has four bassoons that have been purchased or donated, and we have four students learning bassoon! Thank you to Salt Spring for supporting this project and being so generous in helping these new students get up and running on a unique musical instrument.
Don't miss our 1st anniversary concert coming up on July 25th, 2026! Bassoon-apalooza: Return of the Bassoons! is a rare chance to see twelve bassoons on one stage! This concert brings together four of Salt Spring Island's bright new student bassoonists alongside eight professional players for an unforgettable musical showcase.
From playful children's songs and rowdy sea shanties to dramatic tangos and classical favourites, this concert proves just how versatile, fun, and powerful this unique double-reed instrument can be. Come out for a fantastic evening of music, witness a true bassoon extravaganza, and cheer on the next generation of Salt Spring musicians.
BACKGROUND:
Salt Spring Baroque is pleased to be collaborating with the Salish Sea Bassoon Collective on its Salt Spring Bassoon Incubator Project.
The Salish Sea Bassoon Collective's Bassoon Incubator is a unique initiative aimed at nurturing and growing the next generation of young bassoonists on Salt Spring Island. Led by the Collective's founders, professional bassoonists Kerry Graham and Tracie Whitelaw, this novel program offers low-cost instruction, mentorship and instruments for young Island musicians wanting to learn this complicated and important double-reed.
Salt Spring Baroque has a particular interest in promoting the bassoon to the next generation because of the importance of this instrument in the genre of early music. Bassoons are a foundational and fundamental instrument in music from Renaissance-Baroque through to modern symphonic music. The wind bands of the Baroque era consisted of only oboes and bassoons, and have developed over the past three hundred years into the concert band we know today (such as our local Bandemonium!). Similarly with the development of the symphony orchestra. It began with Louis XIV's court orchestra of the 17-18th century which included as many as twelve bassoons. With more bassoonists on the Island, Salt Spring Baroque would be able to continue these long traditions, and be able to perform music specifically written for multiple bassoons.
To get the Bassoon Incubator rolling, Tracie and Kerry collaborated with local school music teachers Brandon Bronson, Michele Footz and Ben McConchie, as well as local music organizations such as Bandemonium Music Society and Salt Spring Baroque. All these organizations would benefit greatly from the addition of bassoonists. "We are incredibly lucky to have some excellent musicians willing to teach and support the next generation", says Ben McConchie, local educator and Bandemonium's Artistic Director, "The bassoon often plays some of the most important supportive musical parts, adding a harmonic and rhythmic aesthetic that fills out the entire sound of the ensemble. Having students learn and play bassoon will not only improve the quality and sound aesthetic of the young bands but will also allow students to eventually be able to play some of the most rewarding and pedagogically interesting music in the world".
Both Kerry and Tracie have noticed a definite interest in the bassoon. Frequent performers at island music events, both are often approached by fascinated young people wanting to learn more about the instrument. While playing at this year's Christmas with Scrooge Tracie recalls a young boy coming up to her exclaiming "that is the most amazing instrument I've ever heard, and I'd love to play it!".
Learning to play the bassoon, however, can be challenging: it's expensive—with even entry-level instruments costing thousands of dollars—and there are few teachers. Because of these barriers it is often underrepresented in schools, and bassoonists are in big demand everywhere. With two professional bassoonists on Salt Spring, it's the ideal time and place for a project like this. Salt Spring has the teachers, now it needs the bassoons.
The first goal of the project was to acquire two bassoons and to start two students the next school year. A fundraising concert was held on Thursday July 10th, 2025 to generate funds to pay for these instruments.
Islanders came together to help "manifest" a bassoon at this humorously titled "Bassoon Seance" concert. Seven West Coast bassoonists gathered at All Saints By the Sea to play a diverse repertoire ranging from the Beatles to Mozart. The audience also got the chance to meet the whole bassoon family including dulcians, baroque bassoons and even the contrabassoon. This may be the only time Salt Springers have seen and heard seven bassoonists playing at once on the island.
