the band
The LuftBassoons is a Tucson based band of bassoons on a mission to bring the magic of the bassoon everywhere and anywhere. Classical, pop, contemporary.. no music is left unexplored by this band of four individuals sharing one common goal of sharing great music, of all genres, on the best instrument ever made: The Bassoon.
Founded in 2013, LuftBassoons was formed from the hugely talented primordial bassoon ooze that is the Tucson bassoon community. Beginning as loose sessions of duets through sextets, the group currently includes the fabulous talents of Cassandra Bendickson, Brenda Willer Buys, and Daniel Hursey, along with such stellar adjunct members as the incredible Peggy Dudley and Robert Williams. Past members have included bassoonists Philip Hill, Ethan Miller, and Juan José Arévalo.
LuftBassoons (LBQ) began a live music residency with the Ballet Conservatory of Dance Music & Art in Tucson in 2014 and in 2016, made their international debut at the Festival Alfonso Ortiz Tirado (FAOT) in Alamos, Sonora, Mexico. They returned that same year to the inaugural Festival Arenál for Contemporary Music in Hermosillo, where they had the honor of premiering their first commissioned work, “La Republica del Agua” by Mexican bassoonist and composer, Juan Carlos Villaseñor.
In 2019, LBQ were featured guest artists for Bassoon Week at Texas A & M University in Corpus Christi and that same summer, they began a year-long project to fund “New Works for Bassoon Quartet”, a project to fund newly commissioned works for bassoon quartet by local composers. Thanks to a New Works grant from the Arts Foundation for Tucson and Southern Arizona, this project was fully funded in 2019-2020 and resulted in the commissioning of six new works for bassoon quartet by local composers Jay Vosk, Marco Rosano, Dante Rosano, Russell Ronnebaum, Samantha Bounkeua, and Chris Black. “Cancion de Cuna” by Jay Vosk was premiered in July 2020 at the International Double Reed Society (IDRS) Conference, and “Oceans” by Samantha Bounkeua was premiered at the January 2021 Meg Quigley Vivaldi Symposium, both to international virtual audiences. Two more world premieres followed in January 2023 of brand new works ("Danzón Frida" and "Fariseos") by award-winning Mexican cellist and composer, Nubia Melina Jaime Donjuan at the Meg Quigley Vivaldi Symposium in Tucson, Arizona. The LuftBassoons later took a selection of these 10 commissioned works to a full recital at the 2024 IDRS conference in Flagstaff, Arizona where they played for a packed and appreciative crowd!
The LuftBassoons continue their mission of bringing bassoon music anywhere and everywhere, frequenting the Sky Island Chamber Society in Sierra Vista along with other venues and spots around Tucson and Southern Arizona.
Got somewhere for us to play? BOY, have we got music!
Founded in 2013, LuftBassoons was formed from the hugely talented primordial bassoon ooze that is the Tucson bassoon community. Beginning as loose sessions of duets through sextets, the group currently includes the fabulous talents of Cassandra Bendickson, Brenda Willer Buys, and Daniel Hursey, along with such stellar adjunct members as the incredible Peggy Dudley and Robert Williams. Past members have included bassoonists Philip Hill, Ethan Miller, and Juan José Arévalo.
LuftBassoons (LBQ) began a live music residency with the Ballet Conservatory of Dance Music & Art in Tucson in 2014 and in 2016, made their international debut at the Festival Alfonso Ortiz Tirado (FAOT) in Alamos, Sonora, Mexico. They returned that same year to the inaugural Festival Arenál for Contemporary Music in Hermosillo, where they had the honor of premiering their first commissioned work, “La Republica del Agua” by Mexican bassoonist and composer, Juan Carlos Villaseñor.
In 2019, LBQ were featured guest artists for Bassoon Week at Texas A & M University in Corpus Christi and that same summer, they began a year-long project to fund “New Works for Bassoon Quartet”, a project to fund newly commissioned works for bassoon quartet by local composers. Thanks to a New Works grant from the Arts Foundation for Tucson and Southern Arizona, this project was fully funded in 2019-2020 and resulted in the commissioning of six new works for bassoon quartet by local composers Jay Vosk, Marco Rosano, Dante Rosano, Russell Ronnebaum, Samantha Bounkeua, and Chris Black. “Cancion de Cuna” by Jay Vosk was premiered in July 2020 at the International Double Reed Society (IDRS) Conference, and “Oceans” by Samantha Bounkeua was premiered at the January 2021 Meg Quigley Vivaldi Symposium, both to international virtual audiences. Two more world premieres followed in January 2023 of brand new works ("Danzón Frida" and "Fariseos") by award-winning Mexican cellist and composer, Nubia Melina Jaime Donjuan at the Meg Quigley Vivaldi Symposium in Tucson, Arizona. The LuftBassoons later took a selection of these 10 commissioned works to a full recital at the 2024 IDRS conference in Flagstaff, Arizona where they played for a packed and appreciative crowd!
The LuftBassoons continue their mission of bringing bassoon music anywhere and everywhere, frequenting the Sky Island Chamber Society in Sierra Vista along with other venues and spots around Tucson and Southern Arizona.
Got somewhere for us to play? BOY, have we got music!
