Woodwind Studies
A Letter From The Area Director
Welcome to Woodwind Studies at the Bob Cole Conservatory of Music, where you can enjoy a complete and thorough musical education in preparation for your professional career. All music majors receive scholarship lessons as part of their tuition. Lessons are supplemented with masterclasses for each woodwind instrument, taught by our faculty instructors.
The BCCM Woodwind Studies faculty is comprised of Southern California’s premiere performers who are both inspiring and capable private instructors. They perform in top professional organizations including the Los Angeles Philharmonic, LA Chamber Orchestra, LA Opera, Pacific Symphony, Long Beach Symphony, Hollywood movie studios, musical theatre, and on television, to name a few.
Performance opportunities for woodwind students are numerous and diverse. Large performing ensembles include the Bob Cole Conservatory Symphony, Wind Symphony, Opera orchestra, Symphonic Band, and a large Concert Band (also open to non-majors). These ensembles are available to all woodwind majors through auditions held the week before fall classes begin. Chamber ensembles include New Music Ensemble, Collegium Musicum, the University Wind Quintet (a scholarship group), and the Saxophone Ensemble. Our Woodwind Chamber Music class features ensembles of diverse size and instrumentation—quintets, quartets, trios, duos, flute choir and clarinet choir. Our choirs use all different sized instruments within each consort. These instruments are available to borrow from our BCCM Technical Services (along with individual practice rooms and lockers).
The BCCM also boasts the world‘s first Native American flute choir! The Native American flutes are also supplied by the Conservatory and music is especially composed for the group by faculty, student and professional composers.
Orchestral training and experience is available to all woodwind majors in our Woodwind Orchestral Repertoire class—a performance class in which an orchestral wind section listens to recordings and sight-reads the standard orchestral repertoire while learning orchestral performance techniques, including the fine art of tuning. All woodwind students receive weekly masterclasses that supplement their private lessons, taught by the woodwind faculty. Double-reed students, in addition to masterclasses, are given access to the Double-Reed Room, which is well equipped with all the necessary tools and accessories for making and adjusting oboe and bassoon reeds.
Saxophone majors also receive masterclasses and can participate in small saxophone ensembles as part of the Saxophone Ensemble class.
Undergraduate performance majors receive weekly hour-long lessons and perform a junior and senior recital. Undergraduate non-performance majors (Music Ed, Composition, Music History, etc.) receive weekly half-hour lessons for the first four semesters, and hour lessons for the fifth and sixth semesters in preparation for their senior recital (only one recital required).
Woodwind graduate students have all the same ensemble opportunities available, and additionally can select a course of study individually tailored to their specific interests. One graduate recital and a short research paper, on the topic of your choosing, is required. A faculty committee of your choice will help guide you.
For further information or to set up a complimentary lesson with one of our studio instructors, please contact me.
Sincerely,
Rob Frear
Director, Woodwind Studies
Bob Cole Conservatory of Music
