Searing, Harry

Bassoonist, contrabassoonist and heckelphonist who attended the Manhattan School of Music and studied under the watchful eye of Stephen Maxym.

Groups with whom he has worked include the Baroque Orchestra of New Jersey, the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra, the International Double Reed Society, the New York Philharmonic, the New York Pops, the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, Parnassus, the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, the 20^th Century Classics Ensemble, and the Westchester Philharmonic.

In April 1989, the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra recorded Arnold Schoenberg’s “Kammersymphonie No. 1, Op. 9” in the Performing Arts Center at the State University of New York in Purchase. The recording is available on the Deutsche Grammophon label, #429 233-2 GH.

Harry gravitated toward the heckelphone, a rare double-reed instrument that is a cousin to the oboe but is played one octave lower on the musical scale, in 2002.

In 2003, he founded LRQ Publishing, which is dedicated to bassoon works penned by Francisco Mignone.

He was the bassoon soloist on Ryuichi Sakamoto’s score of the Brian DePalma thriller, Femme Fatale, in 2004.

On 12^th June 2007, he and fellow bassoonists Leonard Hindell, Frank Morelli and Bernadette Zirkuli offered up a program entitled “The Unknown Bassoon Music of Francisco Mignone” at Ithaca College in New York.

He participated in the convention of the New Jersey Music Educator’s Association at the Hilton Hotel in New Brunswick on 23^rd February 2008. This was more of a technical session, and attendees were encouraged to bring their reeds in so Harry could repair them, free of charge!

On 10^th February 2009, he and violist David Holland and keyboardist Thomas Lymenstull performed Paul Hindemith’s “Trio for Heckelphone, Viola and Piano, Op. 47” at the Interlochen Arts Academy in Michigan.

He was the bassoon soloist on 11^th October 2009 when the Baroque Orchestra of New Jersey recorded Carl Maria von Weber’s “Concerto for Bassoon and Orchestra in F, Op. 75”.

On 16^th November 2010, he and pianist Ron Levy and horn player Matt Searing gave a faculty recital at Montclair State University in New Jersey. The evening’s music included works by Eric Ewazen, Francisco Mignone, Camille Saint-Saens, and Peter Schickele.

The Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center appeared at Alice Tully Hall on 24^th September 2012 for an evening of serenades, including Antonin Dvorak’s “Serenade for Winds in D minor, Op. 44” and Richard Strauss’s “Serenade for Winds in E flat major, Op. 7”.

Recordings on which Harry appears include: Arnold Schoenberg: Pierrot Lunaire; Baroque Fireworks by Frank Morelli; Dvorak: Serenade, Op. 44/Quintet, Op. 77 with the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center; Igor Stravinsky: L’Histoire du Soldat with Parnassus; Mozart: The Magic Flute/The Abduction of the Seraglio; Romance & Caprice: Works for Solo Bassoon & Piano with Gilbert Kalish and Frank Morelli; and, Carter Burwell’s soundtrack to the Coen Brother’s remake of True Grit.

In the field of music education, he has taught at the Manhattan School of Music and served as Adjunct Professor of Bassoon and Woodwind Program Coordinator at Montclair State University’s College of the Arts.

Sources:

Searing, Harry

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