Christopher Millard: Bassoonist, Teacher, Woodwind Technician

From Conversations with Musicians, with Leah Roseman Leah Roseman

I spoke with the renowned bassoon player Christopher Millard about many topics, including many fascinating insights into the orchestra profession, the physics of sound production on both the bassoon and violin, great advice on how best to practice music, the legendary flutist Marcel Moyse and much more. Timestamps listed below!

Like all my episodes, this is also a video, linked here on my website to the transcript as well:

https://www.leahroseman.com/episodes/e5s1christophermillard

Please consider leaving me a tip! https://ko-fi.com/leahroseman

Timestamps:

(00:00) Intro and Chris' Podcasts

(04:14) Advice for music students

(10:19) CBC radio orchestra

(13:03) Making reeds

(17:20) Physics of sound production on bassoon and violin

(27:44) Woodwind mechanisms and repair

(30:19) All thumbs: special bassoon challenges

(32:01) Advantages of studying jazz

(37:19) Musicians' difficulty with retiring

(39:35) Conductors (also see below about World Orchestra for Peace with Gergiev)

(42:35) National Youth Orchestra

(44:48) Marcel Moyse: legendary Flute teacher and mentor

(55:33) World Orchestra for Peace with Gergiev

(59:19) The Neuroscience of practicing music better!

https://nac-cna.ca/en/bio/christopher-millard https://councilofcanadianbassoonists.ca/project/reed-making-by-christopher-millard-introduction-and-chapter-1-the-craftsman/

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