2024 Year Recap
- Joseph Swift
- 5 days ago
- 10 min read
This was quite a packed year! I obviously cannot begin any thoughts on the year 2024 without my beautiful baby girl Everleigh at the forefront. She has been my largest inspiration and continues to amaze me every day as she grows. I see so much of her mom’s mannerisms and personality in her, and it makes me so happy to spend so much time with them both every day. I love you both!
In the teaching sphere, so much happened. From the 2023-24 school year New Jersey region and all state results highlighting so many of my students (Regions featured 5 students of mine, and all state had 3/6 representing my studio!), to 2 students beginning life as music majors in undergrad in the Fall 2024, we presented 3 separate studio recitals including one with 15(!) performers, AND the inaugural installment of the NJYS Double Reed Camp, of which I served as director. These were all enormous milestone of mine.
As a performer, I played with many fantastic ensembles including the New Jersey Symphony, New Haven Symphony Orchestra, American Symphony Orchestra, Orchestra of St. Luke’s, and more! I also had a fairly successful audition circuit, landing in the finals for 3/4 auditions I took, and winning one outright (sadly being unable to join the roster in the end).
Lastly, as a content creator I shared 5 new recordings on YouTube: Coleman’s Tzigane for Wind Quintet, DeCristofaro’s Trio for Bassoon, Vibraphone & Marimba, Beach’s Pastorale for Wind Quintet, and the Bourdeau Premier Solo & Vivaldi G Major Concerto RV 493 for bassoon and piano. This alongside numerous short-form videos amassed over 250,000 views throughout 2024, leading to wonderful growth on YouTube (1k subscribers), Instagram (1500 followers) & TikTok (800 followers).
Anyway, here are the details and pictures/links! Thanks for reading :)
Table of Contents
*Click on a month to skip down the page*
January
Events
6th - Wharton Arts Studio Recital
So proud of all of these bassoonists who presented a fantastic studio recital! These are my students who are all members (at the time) of my Wharton Arts Bassoon Studio.
8th & 9th - NJ Symphony Everywhere
I had a fantastic time visiting the students of Le Casa de Don Pedro in Newark through the NJ Symphony Everywhere initiative! I was able to play alongside Kathleen Nester and Mark Timmerman as we introduced young children to many different instruments up close.
22nd - Tzigane YT Video
This was a fun one! The Continuum Wind Quintet put together a wonderful recording of Valerie Coleman’s “Tzigane” for Wind Quintet. This is a thrilling and exciting piece from start to finish, take a listen if you haven’t yet!
February
Events
16th - Herbert Hoover Middle School bassoon workshop
On of my favorite parts of this job is sharing the bassoon with programs that have few, or none at all, students who play it! The students and faculty at Herbert Hoover Middle School were wonderful and very attentive.
23rd - 2 Performances of Peter & the Wolf w/ Symphony in C & Michael Boudewyns
My first Peter and the Wolf! So honored to play along side the wonderful musicians above through Symphony in C to present these performances with Michael Boudewyns’ incredible and inventive approach to this work.
March
Events
10th - OSFL at Corning Museum of Glass
Such a pleasure to play in the Finger Lakes again! This time at the BEAUTIFUL Corning Museum of Glass, I’ll be back here in January 2025 for a chamber concert! This concert featured TWO Romeo & Juliet’s, by Prokofiev and Tchaikovsky, and highlighted the local drama society acting out the iconic scene from the drama.
16th - Jesus Christ Superstar
Bassoon in a musical! Lots of fun playing on stage (fourth tier riser!) for Jesus Christ Superstar with Phoenix Productions, and alongside Meg Spatz!
April
Events
15th - DeCristofaro YT Video
Another new recording! The first of Project Darkwood this year! This trio was tailor made for our ensemble, and is a super fun listen. Check it out!
20th - Kollective366 Performance
Such a pleasure to play Beethoven 4 for the first time! This full Beethoven program was stellar, with many new friends and colleagues made through the cycle. Looking forward to playing again in the future!
21st - BCO Performance
My first time playing with the Brooklyn Chamber Orchestra! This “east meets west” performance was super fun, and seeing the community support was so inspiring!
25th - Rutgers Performance
Thank you to Dr. Todd Nichols for inviting me back to play with Rutgers University Symphonic Winds! Always a fun time and a great nostalgia trip for me to be back in a collegiate atmosphere.
28th - NJ Symphony YO Ringer Performance
Always fun to play with this Youth Orchestra! Catch up with old colleagues, like Miguel Posadas and my NJ Symphony friends, and hear this wonderful group of young musicians perform!
May
Events
4th - CASNJ Performance
May the 4th be with you…sorry…anyway! Choral Arts Society of New Jersey presented a lovely concert on numerous works by Haydn including his Lord Nelson Mass in D Major as the feature.
11th - OSFL Performance
We wrap up the 2023-24 OSFL season with a Mother’s Day concert! Both my own mother and my wife Catherine (celebrating her FIRST Mother’s Day!) joined me up in Corning NY for this lovely performance of Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue and Porgy & Bess.
19th - MSP Performance
Joining the Masterworks at St. Paul’s concert series was great fun, and performing Beethoven‘s Missa Solemnis in D Major for this first time was quite the treat!
June
Events
1st & 2nd - NHSO Performances
My first performance cycle with the New Haven Symphony Orchestra was for their pops concert “Latina Ladies of Broadway”. The orchestra sounded fantastic, and it was a joy to visit Connecticut for the first time! First of many.
8th - HBE Performance
Bassoon NONET?? It was a lovely experience playing on Rebekah Heller’s live performance of Steve Reich’s Grand Street Counterpoint for 9(!!) bassoons. Thank you for having me Rebekah! And thank you to the Fridman Gallery for hosting this performance.
8th - YO Auditions
It’s a pleasure to be able to return to my previous job at the New Jersey Symphony to assist with entrance and move up auditions! I do this periodically throughout the year for various types of auditions, and always enjoy seeing old colleagues of mine and being around the NJ Symphony ecosystem.
15th - Wharton Arts Studio recital
Our culminating recital for my bassoon studio at Wharton Arts was a great success! Congrats to all the students who played!
15th - NHSO Performance
After that recital, I had my second stint with the New Haven Symphony Orchestra! It was such a pleasure to perform alongside Shelley Monroe on these Broadway excerpts among other repertoire, and on the beautiful outdoor venue of New Haven’s Green right off campus at Yale.
23rd - Full Studio recital
I’m so proud of all my students, and especially so after this performance! 15 bassoonists came together and presented
24th through 28th - Double Reed Camp
The inaugural year of the NJYS Double Reed Camp was a great success! 12 bassoon and oboe players from around NJ converged to play in chamber ensembles, learn about reed making, and participate in special topic classes including mock auditions, master classes, trivia, auxiliary instrument trials, and recitals.
29th - Beach Pastorale YT Video
The Continuum Wind Quintet shared another recording this month! Amy Beach’s Pastorale is a wonderfully warm and beautiful short work for wind quintet, take a listen!
July
Events
23rd - OSL Performance
Truly one of my favorite non-familial moments of 2024 was having the privilege to play with the Orchestra of St. Luke’s. I was asked to play bassoon 2 for their DeGaetano Composition Institute, premiering works by Pascal Le Bouef, Michael R. Dudley Jr., Liam Cummins, and Geli Li.
27th - NJOT Performance
First time playing Die Walküre! All 5 hours of it! Probably won’t be doing that again for a little while…thanks for having me New Jersey Opera Theater!
29th through Aug 4th - BridgeMusik Classical Festival
Krystof and Tanya Witek host BridgeMusik each year, going back pre-pandemic, as 2 separate programs: one week of Jazz and Classical festivals. As part of the classical festival, I joined as faculty and played alongside students on Prokofiev’s Peter and the Wolf, mixed chamber ensembles, and worked with my own student Dylan on the Tansman Sonatine 2nd movement. This was a wonderful program, and one I highly recommend to high school/collegiate level players and teachers!
August
Events
17th - ASO Performance 1
My first time playing with the American Symphony Orchestra was incredible, held at Bard College for the Bard Music Festival 2024. I joined on bassoon 4 alongside Thomas English, Arleigh Savage, and Josh Hodge. This was such a fun week, and great music to perform alongside great people. I only played for Berlioz’ Waverlt Overture for this first concert, but the second show was much more involved for me personally.
18th - ASO Performance 2
The second performance was much more involved! The full ~90 minute production of Berlioz’ La damnation de Faust was an incredible experience to be a part of.
24th - Bourdeau Premier Solo YT Video
New YouTube video! Eugene Bourdeau’s Premier Solo for bassoon and piano is a lovely work, and one that I performed during the faculty recital for the NJYS Double Reed Camp. I strategically chose this one as it is this school year’s region & all state solo for New Jersey, helping with recruiting and spreading my info throughout the state, planning pays off!
26th - SPSO Audition
The first audition of the “fall” season was for the Southeast Pennsylvania Symphony Orchestra. I played well, and ended up winning! It helped that I was the only bassoonist to arrive…but sadly I couldn’t commit to their season due to various external circumstances.
September
Events
4th - Allentown Audition
The second audition of the season is just a short commute from home for me, Allentown Symphony Orchestra’s second bassoon position. I played very well, and made it to the finals, but did not win. I DID end up getting called to sub later this year after being added to the sub list from my performance in the audition process, small victories!
9th through 11th - CWQ Residency at WMU
The Continuum Wind Quintet had its first residency! We ventured to Western Michigan University (Alma mater for our clarinetist and I) to present multiple days’ worth of master classes, career chats, chamber music coaching, a radio interview, and a culminating recital on their Bullock concert series.
22nd - YT Channel hits 500!
Fun milestone! 500 subscribers is halfway towards one of the monetization criteria YouTube has, concurrent yearly watch time being the other.
29th - NEPA Audition
We continue the momentum this year with the Northeastern Pennsylvania Philharmonic! They had both principal and second bassoon chairs open, and selected the two stringers candidates for said chairs. Although I made it to the finals, I sadly did not win either spot.
October
Events
9th - Ithaca College Masterclass
Professor Schillinger was kind enough to host me for a career chat and masterclass for the bassoon studio at Ithaca College! The students sounded fantastic, and were a joy to work with on solo and quintet repertoire.
12th - OSFL performance
Octoberfest! What a fun concert pairing of Viennese waltzes and Brahms' Violin Concerto, and a great way to kick off the 2024-25 OSFL season.
17th - NHSO performance
My first performance with Remy Taghavi (principal bassoon) at the New Haven Symphony Orchestra! It was incredible playing at historic Woolsey Hall on Clara Schumann’s piano concerto and Brahms’ 4th Symphony.
20th - Albany Audition
Albany Symphony Orchestra was my final audition of the year. Although I felt good about how I played, I did not advance past the first round, on to the next!
November
Events
1st - Mansfield University Guest Artist Workshop
My wonderful colleague from the OSFL graciously hosted Shuting Ye and I for an open rehearsal on our reed trio repertoire in preparation for our January ‘25 performance for our orchestra’s chamber series. I also worked with the bassoonists in her program on reed making in an open seminar!
8th - Metro Opera Tech Performance
Always a pleasure to perform at Kaufman Music Center! It was delightful to join this ensemble to perform to highlight the artists of Metro Opera Tech.
10th - NJIO Performance
I played with another new bassoonist! Although not “new” to my life, as we work(ed) together at New Jersey Symphony, it was a lovely to play with Erin Norton and the New Jersey Intergenerational Orchestra for their end of year concert.
20th - LUX Performances
Love playing with LUX through the South Orange Performing Arts Center (SOPAC)! My second year doing 3 concerts for k-12 students during the school day with this fun group. Hope to join again next time!
22nd - 1,000 Instagram Followers!
Fun milestone to hit :) the journey towards monetization continues!
24th - NHSO Performance
New Haven Symphony Orchestra put on an incredible production of Beethoven’s Creatures of Prometheus, my first time hearing a basset horn in person! The production was a very interesting blend of spoken word interludes and ballet on stage with the orchestra. Super fun!
26th - WME Performance at Carnegie Hall
My first performance at Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall! Accompanying students and adults making their debuts on the stage as soloists.
December
Events
4th - Bridgewater-Raritan High School Workshop
It was a joy to visit the band program from my wife’s high school! The students and faculty at Bridgewater-Raritan High School were fantastic, and very eager to try the bassoon.
8th through 14th - Family Vacation
Non-musical highlight of the adorable family photoshoot we had on vacation :)
15th & 19th - WME x CW Performance
My second year performing with Celtic Woman for their holiday tour! Performances at The Wellmont Theater in Montclair NJ and The Paramount in Hungtington NY!
21st - Allentown Performance
After a fairly successful audition for the Allentown Symphony Orchestra, I was overjoyed to be hired to sub in for their holiday concert! One of hopefully many future calls for bassoon needs with this wonderful ensemble.
22nd - Vivaldi G Major RV 493 YT Video
We wrap up the year with a recording of Vivaldi’s Bassoon Concerto in G Major! I triple dipped selecting this piece for a chamber recital with the OSFL in January ‘25, used it for prescreen recording for Ensemble Connect, and figured I’d post it here too! Hopefully this wonderful concerto (of the 38 written) can be played more. Take a listen!
If you made it this far you're amazing! Thank you for reading through everything, and look forward to an even more jam-packed 2025!
