BASSOON BROTHERS TO PERFORM HUMOROUS, INTERACTIVE
CHAMBER MUSIC ON TAP CONCERT
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Portland, Ore. … The Bassoon Brothers, local celebrities known for drawing sold-out crowds to every performance, will perform music from their soon-to-be-released CD as well as favorites from past performances in a Chamber Music on Tap concert Wednesday, Feb. 20, from 6 to 8 p.m. at BridgePort BrewPub (1313 N.W. Marshall St., Portland). Chamber Music on Tap, sponsored by BridgePort Brewing Company, is presented by Fortissimo, an Oregon Symphony volunteer organization.

An eccentric Bassoon quartet resembling the Blues Brothers, the group's concert repertoire covers music from all ages and styles, and with levels of musical humor from site gags to subtle and not-so-subtle musical quotes. The group is comprised of three members of the Oregon Symphony: Mark Eubanks, Robert Naglee and Steve Harriswangler; and their "sole sister," Bonnie Fillmore Cox, a frequent performer with the Oregon Symphony.

The Bassoon Brothers will premiere several new arrangements, one by Oregon Symphony Associate Conductor Norman Leyden, and new arrangements from their new CD, which will be released in the near future. The Bassoon Brothers will bring back by popular demand last year's "Fanfare for the Common Bassoonist," with the audience providing the percussion.

The group will perform on bassoons and contra bassoon, as well as with the newest member of the "oon" family, the "tenoroon, " performing Gilbert and Sullivan's "The Three Little Maids." The program will include "Night Train" performed on the "tromboon," a cross between the bassoon and trombone. Eubanks will perform a tribute to Bridgeport with "Beer Barrel Louie Louie" on soprano sax, written for the very first Chamber Music on Tap concert at Bridgeport, also performed by the Bassoon Brothers. The audience will provide the "boom-chugga-lugga-lugga" vocals for the tribute.

The Bassoon Brothers' first CD on Crystal Records, "Wanted, for Low Down Playing and Bass Behavior" has been the number one-selling CD of all bassoon recordings on Amazon.com for the last two years.

Audiences will have a chance to see The Bassoon Brothers again when they perform Daugherty's "Hells Angels" in an Oregon Symphony Classical Concert conducted by James DePreist May 18 through 21 at the Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall.

Chamber Music on Tap is held upstairs in the BridgePort BrewPub's Heritage Room every third Wednesday of each month until May. The concerts provide audience members the opportunity to interact with musicians and socialize while sampling the brewery's homemade pizza and handcrafted, award-winning ales in the pub's unique building, a 100-year-old former rope factory. A tour of the brewery will be offered immediately following the performance.

The Bassoon Brothers' performance is scheduled for Wednesday, Feb. 20, at 6 p.m. at BridgePort BrewPub. Tickets are $6 for Fortissimo members, $10 for the general public and may be purchased in advance at the Oregon Symphony Ticket Office (923 S.W. Washington), Monday - Saturday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. or charged by phone at 503-228-1353 or (800) 228-7343. Tickets also may be purchased at the door, if available. All proceeds from the evening benefit the Oregon Symphony.

Mark Eubanks

A native of Tacoma, Wash., and principal bassoon with the Oregon Symphony since 1978, Eubanks has been a soloist with the Symphony and the West Coast Chamber Orchestra. Prior to his appointment with the Oregon Symphony, he performed for ten years with the Seattle Symphony as well as with the Seattle Opera as principal bassoon. An active chamber musician, he has performed with the Grand Teton and Sunriver Music Festivals as well as Chamber Music Northwest. Eubanks is known as Portland's "eclectic" bassoonist.

Robert Naglee

A native of Portland, Naglee joined the "Portland" Symphony as second bassoonist under Piero Bellugi in 1959. Currently paired up with his sixth principal bassoonist, he continues to perform with the Oregon Symphony, as it is now called. Naglee is also principal bassoon with the Bloch Festival Orchestra. He has performed with Chamber Music Northwest, the Grand Teton Festival Orchestra and the Anchorage Music Festival. In a nutshell, Naglee is an all-around "good guy" with a questionable reputation, which he enjoys.

Steve Harriswangler

Steve Harriswangler joined the Oregon Symphony as Acting Bassoon during the 2001-2002 season. Prior to that he was Principal Bassoon of the Orquesta Sinfonica de Galicia since February of 1994.

Harriswangler has attended many music festivals including: National Music Camp, Interlochen Grand Teton Orchestral Seminar, Blossom Festival School, Sarasota Music Festival, Schlesswig-Holstein Music Festival, National Repertory Orchestra and The Tanglewood Music Festival.

Bonnie Fillmore Cox

A mid-west native, Cox settled in Portland in 1982 after serving for two years with the Orquesta Sinfonica Municipal in Caracas, Venezuela. Currently she is Principal Bassoon of the Oregon Ballet Theatre. A frequent performer with the Oregon Symphony, Cox has made brief summertime appearances at the Peter Britt festival, Oregon Bach Festival and the Festival at Sandpoint. Cox also performs with the Oregon Chamber Ensemble, an innovative trio of horn, bassoon and piano. Cox is the "sole sister" of the Bassoon Brothers.