Bassooning our way out of the coronavirus
Free musical offerings every day to inspire and raise the spirits ~ A special on-line music project created by UK bassoonist Laurence Perkins.
https://laurenceperkins.com/inspiration/
International bassoonist Laurence Perkins has launched a series of daily musical on-line offerings – his creative response to the current coronavirus crisis. The project begins on Wednesday 1st April with a new post each day until Sunday 31st May.
Bassoon Inspired consists of 61 mini-programmes, each of which will be around five to ten minutes in length, mostly audio but including a few videos. They will be posted early each morning on a special webpage with no log-in restrictions – anyone can enjoy these free of charge at any point during the day. The programmes will also remain on that page until mid-June, should anyone wish to listen again at a later date.
The programmes include original baroque works, traditional folk melodies and dance tunes, gentle
meditative music, humour, and jazz. British music features prominently. There’s a Harry Potter link,
and some genuine music by Mozart may well be receiving its world première! There will be special
programmes over the Easter weekend, including Bach on Good Friday and a 35-minute video
‘Bassoon Voyager’ on Bank Holiday Monday – a musical journey to beautiful places.
Manchester-based Laurence, who is a solo artist for the world-famous Hyperion record label as
well as a principal orchestral player, also works regularly with amateur players on courses and
summer schools, and has led regular music sessions with cancer patients. He is adamant about
the value and power of music: “At this time of national crisis, musicians have an important role in
keeping people cheerful. I have always been passionate about communicating musically through
the bassoon, and I am now sharing some inspiring musical offerings at a moment when people
have the need for emotional support. My hope is that now we all have the time to do so, as many as
possible will listen, relax and take in the beauty of the music and the good feelings and positive
energies it creates.”
Each day of the week has a particular theme or character:
Monday – bassooning into a new week!
Tuesday – baroque
Wednesday – lucky dip
Thursday – meditative and reflective
Friday – fun day! Looking forward to the weekend…
Saturday & Sunday – celebrating a beautiful world
Like many musicians and other performers, Laurence’s immediate work has been wiped out by the
COVID19 epidemic, so he has taken the opportunity to create this project. “I’ve mined my own
recorded archive to make this possible, and I’m also recording lots of new material in my own home
studio in Manchester – luckily I have invested in top quality professional recording equipment, and
this is now proving very useful!”