BASSOON BROTHERS TO PREVIEW 'HELL'S ANGELS'
AT MUSIC MILLENNIUM NORTHWEST

Portland, Ore. … The irreverent Bassoon Brothers will give a free, in-store performance at Music Millennium Northwest (801 NW 23rd Ave.) Friday, May 17, from 6:30 to 7:30 p.m. when they preview Michael Daugherty's "Hell's Angels," which will receive its Oregon Symphony premiere in a Classical concert conducted by Music Director James DePreist May 18 through 21. The Bassoon Brothers also will autograph specially sale-priced CDs, including the soon-to-be-released "Captured" and the number one-selling CD of all bassoon recordings on Amazon.com for the last two years, "Wanted for Low-Down Playing and Bass Behavior."

Also known as the bassoon section of the Oregon Symphony, members of the Bassoon Brothers are: Mark Eubanks, Robert Naglee, Steve Harriswangler and Juan de Gomar (who is leaving the group to take a new position with the Atlanta Symphony). DePreist and the Bassoon Brothers will make the first commercial recording of Daugherty's "Hell's Angels" Wednesday, March 22. An American composer, Daugherty is known for his off-beat compositions (an earlier work, "Dead Elvis," called for the bassoonist to dress as an Elvis impersonator). According to Eubanks, the American composer drew inspiration for "Hell's Angels" from a Bassoon Brothers CD. "He wanted to see what we were doing and the jazzy capability of the instrument," Eubanks said.

The Bassoon Brothers consider their instrument to be "endangered" due to lack of players, and part of their mission is to demonstrate the bassoon's versatility and beauty in the hopes of attracting more young musicians to the instrument. The group has also created their own unique repertoire, stealing material from string quartets, operas, symphonies and popular music, as well as commissioning new work from fellow bassoonist and composer Peter Schickele, a.k.a. P.D.Q. Bach. They have performed in prisons throughout Oregon and California, in schools, retirement centers and as part of various community programs. They also pioneered the Chamber Music on Tap series at BridgePort BrewPub, where each of their programs has been a sell-out.