Nelsen, Suzanne

Bassoonist from Alberta, Canada, who attended The Hague Conservatory and McGill University, and joined the Montreal Symphony in 1995.

In the autumn of 2000, she became a member of the Boston Symphony Orchestra. Other groups with whom she has worked include Andover Chamber Music, the Berlioz Historical Brass, the Boston Conservatory Faculty Wind Quintet, the Boston Pops, the Boston Symphony Chamber Players, the New England Bassoon Quartet, and the Super World Orchestra.

The Boston Conservatory Faculty Wind Quintet performed Gyorgy Ranki’s “Pentaerophonia”, Lalo Schifrin’s “La Nouvelle Orleans” and Alexander von Zemlinsky’s “Humoresque” at the Northeast Horn Workshop on 15^th March 2002.

On 19^th October 2003, the Berlioz Historical Brass made its Boston debut in King’s Chapel with the chapel choir and orchestra under the directorship of Heinrich Christensen. Their program comprised excerpts from Messe solennelle by Hector Berlioz, “Les mot de Berlioz” by Clifford Bevan, “Premiere Marche” by Luigi Cherubini, “O Ruddier than the Cherry” by George Frideric Handel, “Duet” by Alexandre Hardy, “Credo” by Henri Du Mont, and “Domine Salvum”, “Duet” and “O Salutaris” by Abbe Nicholas Roze.

Suzanne participated in the 2^nd annual Bassoon Day at McGill University on 28^th March 2004.

On 2^nd October 2005, Suzanne and oboist Laura Ahlbeck, clarinetist Ian Greitzner, horn player David Ohanian and flautist Linda Toote reprised Schifrin’s “La Nouvelle Orleans” at Seully Hall in Boston, Massachusetts.

She took part in the Boston Woodwind Society’s Double Reed Day in 2006.

In September 2007, the New England Bassoon Quartet gave a pair of recitals at the Boston Conservatory and the Universityof New Hampshire. Their material included: “Arietta in Memory of Francis Poulenc” by Christopher Kies; “Concert Etudes” by Vaclav Nelhybel; “Fripperies Vol. 1” by Lowell Shaw; “Le Phenix” by Michel Corrette; “Quartettino” by William Schuman; and “Scherzo” by Sergei Prokofiev.

The Boston Symphony Chamber Players took the stage at Jordan Hall on 10^th February 2008 where they played Ingolf Dahl’s “Duettino concertante”, Daron Hagen’s “Concerto for Brass”, Paul Hindemith’s “Morgenmusik”, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s “Serenade No. 12 in E flat, K. 375”, and Toru Takemitsu’s “Rain Spell”.

On 22^nd August 2008, Suzanne and members of the BSO offered up the prelude concert at Ozawa Hall in Lenox, Massachusetts. It consisted of “Till Eulenspiegel einmal anders” by Franz Hasenohrl, “Minuet for Cello and Piano” and “Piano Trio” by Franz Joseph Haydn, “Elegy for Horn and Piano” by Francis Poulenc, and “Petrouschkates” by Joan Tower. The main event was a double-header of Beethoven: Mass in C, with the Tanglewood Festival Chorus, and Symphony No. 5.

The NEBQ were back at the University of New Hampshire on 28^th September 2010 for a program of new works by BerkleeCollege of Music composers such as Beth Denish, Marti Epstein, Greg Hopkins, Andrew List, and Michael Weinstein.

On 2^nd November 2008, the BSCP opened their season at Jordan Hall with “Divertimento in D” by Michael Haydn, “Divertimento No. 12” by Mozart, “Quintette en forme de choros” by Heitor Villa-Lobos, and “String Sextet No. 1” by Johannes Brahms.

Suzanne participated in an Inside Out Winds recital on 7^th March 2010 at the Newton Free Library in New Centre, Massachusetts. She and horn player Eli Epstein, oboist John Ferrillo, flautist Elizabeth Ostling and clarinetist Michael Wayne interpreted Johann Sebastian Bach’s “Concerto No. 2 after Vivaldi” and “Fugue in G minor” and Maurice Ravel’s “Le Tombeau de Couperin”.

On 27^th August 2010, the Boston Symphony Orchestra and Tanglewood Festival Chorus teamed up for Gloria by Poulenc and The Planets by Gustav Holst.

Suzanne returned to Jordan Hall on 22^nd September 2010 for a recital with Richard Svoboda that included “Humoresque & Impromptu” by Reinhold Gliere, “Sonata” by Hindemith, “Sonata” by Camille Saint-Saens, “Sonata in D minor” by Corrette, and “Sonata No. 3 in F major” by Francois Devienne.

On 5^th December 2010, she was part of an all-star orchestra in Concert for the Cure at Jordan Hall. Sir Simon Rattle conducted the adagietto from “Symphony No. 5” by Gustav Mahler, “Piano Concerto in G, K. 453” by Mozart, with Marc-Andre Hamelin at the keys, and “Symphony No. 2” by Brahms.

The BSCP opened their season at Jordan Hall on 16^th October 2011 with an all-Czech affair that comprised Antonin Dvorak’s “Quintet in G, Op. 77”, Leos Janacek’s “Mladi”, Bohuslav Martinu’s “Sextet for Piano and Winds”.

On 6^th November 2011, Andover Chamber Music performed “Fairytales” by William Bolcom, “Nonet” by Louis Spohr, and “Sextet” by Poulenc.

Members of the BSO appeared at Jordan Hall on 7^th November 2011 for a program of Brahms’ “Piano Quintet, Op. 34”, Mahler’s “Adagio for Piano Quartet”, Alfred Schnittke’s “Piano Quartet”, and Spohr’s “Nonet in F major, Op. 31”.

Recordings on which Suzanne appears include Martinu: Chamber Music with Flute and Le Monde du Serpent with Douglas Yeo.

In the field of music education, she has taught at the Boston Conservatory, the Boston University College of Fine Arts, the Longy School of Music, McGill University, and Tanglewood.

Sources:

Nelsen, Suzanne

Navigate Feenotes

Search Feenotes

Please donate to keep the site alive