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We love the combined sound of oboe/English horn and bass, and are thrilled by the range, quality, and appeal of music that's been written for us as The Vecchione/Erdahl Duo. Our mission is to establish our instrumentation as a genre by our performances, commissions, and recordings of music composed for our duo.
We are also dedicated to education. Pages of Music with Rolf and Carrie brings classical music alive for young audiences by involving them with ideas about music and demonstrations of the wind and string ends of the orchestral spectrum. We link our performances to memorable children's literature with musical themes.
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Pages of Music with Rolf and Carrie is an educational ensemble committed to making music relevant and accessible to young audiences. By connecting our performances with children's literature, we aim to humanize the composers and performers of music in a way that is meaningful, memorable, engaging, and entertaining. The need for high quality, direct and diverse presentation of classical musical themes by a compact ensemble is increasingly clear, in light of recent and ongoing cuts to music programs and to budgets for bringing music to the schools and communities. As an oboist and bassist, we can introduce and demonstrate what performance on wind and string instruments sounds and looks like.
We have something unique to offer to young audiences. We present a range of classical music, from standard works to new and contemporary repertoire, from solo to duo to orchestral, from wind to strings, with just two performers. Our literary connections help make music come alive for all audiences. Our specialized training and broad experience as teachers and performers make us a valuable potential resource for music teachers and students.
As The Vecchione/Erdahl Duo, our mission is to bring a wide array of exciting new music to a variety of venues. We believe strongly in the power of music to enchant and uplift, and we want to bring that power and beauty to audiences all over. What sets our "chamber music of a different color" apart is its intimate nature, well suited for smaller spaces and more casual, conversational, concert settings. Our unique, blend of timbres is equally pleasing to audiences new to chamber music, and a refreshing alternative to connoisseurs used to more traditional ensembles. We perform on recital series, for retirement centers, and to accompany social or corporate functions. We particularly enjoy performing in communities that lack regular access to classical music –communities that become remote by geographic, demographic, economic, or other barriers. Music is for everyone, and our goal is to make that abundantly clear by compelling performances of challenging, accessible works, that fit the venues, interests, and budgets of our audiences.
Playing as a duo is our focus as performers. We are committed to making it work as evidenced by commissions and performances that have effectively created a new repertoire for oboe and bass duos, and by our ongoing efforts to reach and teach young audiences about music in our Pages of Music presentations to schools, libraries, and bookstores. We are developing new programs linking music and children's literature on a variety of topics, including the orchestra, jazz, composers, geography, and specific pieces of music. We see an urgent need to reach and develop young audiences that matches our aspirations and abilities, and we are excited about building on what we have begun as an educational ensemble and taking it as far as we can.
The benefit to us goes beyond making our livelihood as performers, to seeing young people catch an enthusiasm for music so that they may become the performers and audiences of the future. There is a great tradition to preserve and build on; our goal is to pass on what we have learned from the past and to be part of what is to come in the ongoing, wildly-rollicking, and ever-relevant history of classical music.
The Vecchione/Erdahl Duo, Carrie Vecchione, oboe/English horn, Rolf Erdahl, double bass, first performed as a duo in 1999 when we premiered Timothy Goplerud's tango for English horn and bass, "It Takes Two . . ." for the National Association of College Wind and Percussion Instructor's Conference.
We started as a married couple looking for repertoire written for our instrumentation of oboe/English horn and double bass. We discovered very little had been written for the combination. Fortunately, we had good, prolific composer friends, and continue to find new composers and performing opportunities. The wide range of styles and expression and the high quality and appeal of the music written for us convinced us of the possibility to pursue a career as a duo specializing in new music for oboe and double bass.
Playing as a duo has become our focus as performers. In the past few years we have effectively created a new repertoire for oboe/English horn and double bass duo by our commissions and performances. Our efforts have been recognized by recital series engagements, a Minnesota Public Radio Talking Volumes broadcast, and Subito, Encore, and Jerome Composers Commissioning Grants from the American Composers Forum. Our debut 2008 recording, "It Takes Two . . ." for Centaur Records features all original works for oboe and bass duo, all but one expressly written for us. We give recitals around the country, and widely throughout Minnesota.
Our approach to programming is to draw audiences into our musical journey. Our repertoire is virtuosic and demanding, yet accessible, with folksong, jazz, tango, and literary inspirations. By the end of the recital, our goal is to have made chamber music and new music comprehensible, engaging, and enjoyable for our audience. We perform music that catches their ear as the ink dries and sends them out the door humming a new tune.
As Pages of Music with Rolf and Carrie, we present educational programs linking music and children's literature. In this role, we are Roster Artists for the Minnesota State Arts Board and Young Audiences of Minnesota, Classical Partners with the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra's CONNECT Program to the Schools,and perform for the Minnesota Orchestra's YPSCA and the Duluth–Superior Symphony's "Music to You" programs. As a compact group representing wind and string sections, we use our instrumental demonstrations and literary connections to introduce the whole range of orchestral colors. We're gratified by how well these programs have been received by teachers and librarians, and by captivated audiences ranging from preschool through college.
The Vecchione/Erdahl Duo's efforts have effectively created a new repertoire for duo oboe/English horn and double bass through the music that has been written for them. They perform widely across the country on recital series, at colleges and universities, and at conferences of the International Double Reed Society and International Society of Bassists. Their performance for the book launch of Kate DiCamillo's The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane at the Fitzgerald Theater in St. Paul was broadcast on Minnesota Public Radio's Talking Volumes Program. They curate a recital series of the Lakeville Area Arts Center featuring a variety of chamber ensembles. Pages of Music with Rolf and Carrie, they present educational programs linking music and children's literature for schools, libraries, and bookstores. They are Roster Artists with Young Audiences of Minnesota and the Minnesota State Arts Board, and Partnering Artists with the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra's CONNECT Program and Duluth –Superior Symphony Orchestra's "Music to You" program. Awards include a 2007 Jerome Composers Commissioning Program Grant for Margaret Griebling-Haigh's Askelad and the Seven Silver Ducks, a 2009 Subito Grant to record Askelad, a 2007 Subito Grant in support of recording their debut duo CD, "It Takes Two . . ." for Centaur Records, and a 2006 American Composers Forum Encore Grant in support of performances of Andrea Clearfield's Three Songs for Oboe and Double Bass after Poems by Pablo Neruda.
Carrie Vecchione, oboe/English horn, teaches at the MacPhail Center for Music, subs with the Minnesota Orchestra and appears as Principal Oboe of the Duluth-Superior Symphony Orchestra. She previously subbed for the Indianapolis Symphony, and was a member of the Indianapolis Chamber Orchestra, Fort Wayne Philharmonic, Muncie Symphony, the Baton Rouge Symphony, New Orleans Ballet, Acadiana Symphony, Natchez Opera, Ohio Light Opera, Vineyard Opera, Grand Teton Orchestral Seminar, and the NOA National Orchestra of New York. She has soloed in the Carnegie Weill Recital Hall, and performed at many national conferences. Solo premieres include Timothy Goplerud's Concerto for English horn, and Transformations for Oboe and String Orchestra by Dinos Constantinides. She previously taught at St. Olaf College and at Ball State University, where she performed with the resident faculty ensemble, the Musical Arts Quintet, and created and hosted the John de Lancie Master Classes and the Reed Maker's Workshops. She served on the faculty of the Sewanee Summer Music Center, the International Peace Gardens Music Camp, and has been an adjudicator and clinician locally and nationally. She received Doctoral and Bachelor degrees from Louisiana State University, and her Master's degree from the Manhattan School of Music. Her teachers have included Joseph Robinson, Earnest Harrison and Mark Ostoich.
Rolf Erdahl, double bass, subs for the Minnesota Orchestra, St. Paul Chamber Orchestra, and Minnesota Opera. He teaches bass at Luther College, Gustavus Adolphus College, and the Lutheran Summer Music Festival. Previously Principal Bass of the Winnipeg Symphony and Manitoba Chamber Orchestra, he has subbed with the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra, and performed with the Duluth-Superior Symphony Orchestra, Breckenridge Music Festival, Fort Wayne Philharmonic, Indianapolis Chamber Orchestra, Honolulu Symphony, Bergen Philharmonic, New World Symphony, Miami Beach Basstet, and White Noise Chamber Players. He has taught bass at the University of Manitoba, Ball State and Wichita State Universities, the Sewanee Music Festival, and the North Carolina Governor's School. He graduated from St. Olaf College, the University of Minnesota, and the Peabody Conservatory. Fulbright and Scandinavian-American Foundation Scholar studies in Norway culminated in his doctoral dissertation on the music of Grieg. Eugene Levinson has been his major teacher. He has also studied with Peter Lloyd, Bruce Bransby, Paul Ellison, Hal Robinson, and James Clute.
"It Takes Two . . ." features all original music for oboe/bass duo, all but one piece composed expressly for the Vecchione/Erdahl Duo. It was recorded May 10-12, 2007 at WFMT Studios in Chicago, produced by Howard Scott, and engineered by Eric Arunas for the Centaur Records label. The music was composed by Timothy Goplerud, Dinos Constantinides, Shane Monds, Vernon J. Sandoz III, Andrea Clearfield, Jody Nagel, and Adrian Mann, between the years 1997-2006. Support was provided in part by Subito and Encore Grants from the American Composers Forum and a faculty grant from the MacPhail Center for Music. It is dedicated to Frank and Polly Vecchione and Arlen and Ellen Erdahl.