A SUNY Fredonia faculty recital by bassoon professor Laura Koepke will be held Sept. 20 at 8 p.m. in the Rosch Recital Hall. The event is free and open to the public.
Joined by I-Fei Chen on piano, Jordan Frazier on bass, several members of the Fredonia Bassoon Studio, and music students Agustin Faundez (percussionist), and Michael Vescovo (bassist), Koepke will be performing solo works by Carl Maria von Weber and Lars-Erik Larsson, a bass and bassoon duo based on "Los Tres Golpes," written by Ignacio Cervantes/Gregg August, and a few bassoon chamber pieces, including arrangements of "Take Five" and Harlem Express.
"I am excited to not only be performing two great solo works for the bassoon, a premiere of a bass and bassoon duo with my husband, Jordan Frazier, but also to be playing chamber music with my students," Koepke said. "Rehearsing and performing with my bassoon students gives them the rare opportunity to experience 'first hand' the concepts that I am working on with them in lessons. As their teacher, I gain insight into how they learn and how the musical concepts that they are studying translate into performance. There is nothing more meaningful to me as a musician and teacher than having performance experiences with my students. They have all worked very hard, and they sound fantastic!"
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Koepke has performed with many of New York's finest orchestras, including numerous concerts with the world-renowned Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, on European and U.S. tours, and at home in Carnegie Hall and Avery Fisher Hall. She has also performed with the Orchestra of St. Luke's, American Composers Orchestra, New York Pops, American Symphony Orchestra, Brooklyn Philharmonic, New York City Opera, and the Westchester Philharmonic. In addition to performing in New York City, Koepke is the principal bassoonist of CityMusic Cleveland, a celebrated and innovative chamber orchestra based in Cleveland, Ohio. From 1998 to 2009, Koepke was a member of the internationally acclaimed woodwind quintet, Quintet of the Americas. Three recordings with the quintet include "Dancing in Columbia" (MSR Classics,) "Karel Husa-Recollections" (New World Records,) and "Sounds of Brazil" (MSR Classics.) Koepke has performed as a guest artist with Zephyros Winds, North Country Chamber Players, Sequitur, and the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center. As a member of the Curiously Strong Winds, Koepke has performed at the Bard Festival, Bang on a Can, and Festival of the Hamptons. Other festival appearances include the Lincoln Center Festival, Bar Harbor Music Festival, Maverick Concerts, and the Weekend of Chamber Music Festival.
Koepke joined the SUNY Fredonia music faculty in 2007. Previous teaching positions include New York University, Manhattan School of Music Pre-college, Aaron Copland School of music at Queens College, and Western Connecticut State University. She graduated from Baldwin-Wallace College and holds a master's degree and Artist Diploma from Yale University School of Music, where she studied with Stephen Maxym and Frank Morelli.
