| Judith LeClair | |
|---|---|
| Born | 1958 (age 60–61) Parkersburg, West Virginia |
| Occupation(s) | Principal bassoon of the New York Philharmonic |
| Instruments | Bassoon |
| Associated acts | New York Philharmonic |
Judith LeClair (born 1958), from Newark, Delaware, is an American bassoonist.
Newark is a city in New Castle County, Delaware, United States. It is located 12 miles (19 km) west-southwest of Wilmington. According to the 2010 Census, the population of the city is 31,454. Newark is home to the University of Delaware.
The bassoon is a woodwind instrument in the double reed family that plays music written in the bass and tenor clefs, and occasionally the treble. Appearing in its modern form in the 19th century, the bassoon figures prominently in orchestral, concert band, and chamber music literature. It is known for its distinctive tone colour, wide range, variety of character, and agility. One who plays the bassoon is called a bassoonist.
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She has been the principal bassoon in the New York Philharmonic since 1981 and on the faculty at the Juilliard School since 1985. LeClair began studying the instrument at age 11 and began her professional career at the age of 15 in a performance with the Philadelphia Orchestra playing the Mozart Sinfonia Concertante with colleagues from the Settlement Music School in Philadelphia, where she studied with Shirley Curtiss. She studied bassoon with K. David van Hoesen at the Eastman School of Music and held the principal chair in the San Diego Symphony and San Diego Opera for two seasons after her graduation in 1979 before winning her position with New York.
The New York Philharmonic, officially the Philharmonic-Symphony Society of New York, Inc., globally known as New York Philharmonic Orchestra (NYPO) or New York Philharmonic-Symphony Orchestra, is a symphony orchestra based in New York City. It is one of the leading American orchestras popularly referred to as the "Big Five". The Philharmonic's home is David Geffen Hall, located in New York's Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts.
The Juilliard School is a private performing arts conservatory in New York City. Established in 1905, the school trains about 850 undergraduate and graduate students in dance, drama, and music. It is widely regarded as one of the world's leading drama, music and dance schools, with some of the most prestigious arts programs.
The Philadelphia Orchestra is an American symphony orchestra, based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. One of the "Big Five" American orchestras, the orchestra is based at the Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts, where it performs its subscription concerts, numbering over 130 annually, in Verizon Hall.
John Williams' bassoon concerto, The Five Sacred Trees , was written for LeClair and her "unparalleled artistry." She premiered it in April 1995 as part of the New York Philharmonic's 150th anniversary festivities after having chosen him to receive the commission for the piece. She currently plays a 1937 Heckel bassoon. Her first teacher, an older student, owned the professional-level instrument; after he died in an accident at the age of 19, LeClair's parents bought the instrument from the boy's family. It remains her only instrument.
John Towner Williams is an American composer, conductor, and pianist. Widely regarded as one of the greatest American film composers of all time, he has composed some of the most popular, recognizable, and critically acclaimed film scores in cinematic history in a career spanning over six decades. Williams has won 24 Grammy Awards, seven British Academy Film Awards, five Academy Awards, and four Golden Globe Awards. With 51 Academy Award nominations, he is the second most-nominated individual, after Walt Disney. In 2005 the American Film Institute selected Williams's score to 1977's Star Wars as the greatest American film score of all time. The Library of Congress also entered the Star Wars soundtrack into the National Recording Registry for being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant".
A concerto is a musical composition generally composed of three movements, in which, either one solo instrument, or a group of soloists (concertino) is accompanied by an orchestra or concert band. Its characteristics and definition have changed over time. In the 17th century, sacred works for voices and orchestra were typically called concertos, as reflected by J. S. Bach's usage of the title "concerto" for many of the works that we know as cantatas.
John Williams composed The Five Sacred Trees for Judith LeClair, the principal bassoonist of the New York Philharmonic in 1995, to honor the orchestra's 150th anniversary. The first performance was given by LeClair and the New York Philharmonic under Kurt Masur on April 12 of that year. The orchestra consists of three flutes and piccolo, two oboes and English horn, two clarinets and bass clarinet, two bassoons and contrabassoon, four horns, three trumpets, three trombones and tuba, timpani, harp, piano, celesta, and strings. Performance time is approximately 26 minutes. Inspiration for the work also comes from the writings of British poet and novelist Robert Graves.
In addition to her orchestral career, LeClair is also an active chamber musician and has taught numerous masterclasses. She is married to pianist Jonathan Feldman, who is the former head of the collaborative piano department at Juilliard, where he currently teaches. She gave birth to son Gabriel at age 41. They currently live in Haworth, New Jersey. [1]
Haworth is a borough in Bergen County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census, the borough's population was 3,382, reflecting a decline of 8 (-0.2%) from the 3,390 counted in the 2000 Census, which had in turn increased by 6 (+0.2%) from the 3,384 counted in the 1990 Census.
