The Artist Series Concerts of Sarasota opened its 2021-22 Soiree Series with ‘Double Reeds Unite,’ celebrates the unique sounds and versatility of the oboe and bassoon. The concerts took place on place on Sunday, October 17, 3 p.m., and Monday, October 18, 7 p.m., 2021, in the music room of the one-of-a-kind Fischer-Weisenborne residence is located at 7459 Cabbage Palm Court, Sarasota. The performers, from the Sarasota Orchestra were principal oboist Jonathan Gentry and principal bassoonist Fernando Traba, and they were joined by pianist Joseph Holt.

The program included:

“The Wildflower Trio” by Jenni Brandon

“Concert Fantasy on Semiramide by Rossini”

Charles Louis Triébert and Eugène Louis-Marie Jancourt, Poulenc’s Trio for Piano, Oboe and Bassoon

The “Wildflower Trio”, for oboe, bassoon, and piano, was commissioned in 2004 by the College of Fine Arts of the University of Texas at Austin to honor and celebrate the life and environmental work of Lady Bird Johnson. The inspiration for the piece came from a poetry book written by one of Mrs. Johnson’s friends, Bette Woolsey Castro. Her book, The Wildflower, was inspired by the opening of Lady Bird’s Wildflower Research Center in Austin, Texas, and contains a collection of poems about wildflowers and nature.

I had the honor and privilege of composing the “The Wildflower Trio” piece for two fine musicians to premiere. Rebecca Henderson-oboe, and Kristin Wolfe Jensen-bassoon, have performed this piece around the world with a variety of pianists, including at the International Double Reed Society Conference in Melbourne, Australia in June 2004 as well as for Mrs. Johnson at her Wildflower Center in Austin, Texas. 

The movements are:

• Wildflowers
•  Wild Rose and Butterfly
• The Hummingbird
• Indian Paintbrush
• Summer Garden

This work has been recorded on two albums:

Gobo: Commissions and Premieres for Oboe – Rebecca Henderson-oboe, Kristin Wolfe Jensen-bassoon,

Robert Freeman. Longhorn Music, 2013