Svoboda, Richard

Bassoonist who attended the University of Nebraska and received his Bachelor of Music in Education in 1978. His teachers included George Berry, Gary Echols, and William Winstead.

After graduation, he became a member of the Jacksonville Symphony and was with them for a decade before joining the Boston Symphony Orchestra in 1989.

In October 1995, he made his solo debut with the BSO when he performed Carl Maria von Weber’s “Bassoon Concerto”.

The BSO offered up Ludwig van Beethoven’s “Symphony No. 6” (“Pastorale”) and Igor Stravinsky’s Le sacre du printemps (The Rite of Spring) in October 2002.

On 27^th October 2007, Richard delivered the world premiere of Michael Gandolfi’s “Concerto for Bassoon” with the Melrose Symphony Orchestra, under the baton of Yoichi Udagawa.

He gave a master class and recital at Emory University as part of Bassoon Day on 3^rd January 2009.

In April 2009, the BSO interpreted Beethoven’s “Violin Concerto”, with soloist Isabelle Faust, and Gustav Mahler’s “Symphony No. 4”.

Richard and horn player Eli Epstein, oboist John Ferrillo, pianist Pei-Shan Lee and clarinetist Thomas Martin performed Beethoven’s “Quintet for Piano and Winds, Op. 16” at Jordan Hall on 4^th October 2010.

On 17^th October 2010, he and John and clarinetist William H. Hudgins were back at Jordan Hall for the premiere of Andre Previn’s “Octet for Eleven”.

He and his daughter Erin Svoboda gave the world premiere of Michael Gandolfi’s “Double Concerto for Bassoon and Clarinet” at the MSO’s Winter Concert on 5^th March 2011.

On 5^th April 2011, Richard took part in a Gunther Schuller Tribute at the New England Conservatory of Music.

The BSO and Tanglewood Festival Chorus performed Johann Sebastian Bach’s St. John Passion, BWV 245, at Symphony Hall on 12^th April 2011.

On 10^th June 2011, Richard and clarinetist Franklin Cohen, horn player Gregory Hustis and oboist Allan Vogel played Antonin Dvorak’s “Wind Serenade in D minor, Op. 44” at the Sarasota Music Festival.

The Boston Symphony Chamber Players presented an all-Czech program that consisted of Dvorak’s “Quintet in G, Op. 77”, Leos Janacek’s “Mladi” and Bohuslav Martinu’s “Sextet for Piano and Winds” at Jordan Hall on 16^th October 2011.

On 22^nd January 2012, they returned to Jordan Hall for an afternoon of serenades: “Serenade in D, Op. 25” by Beethoven, “Serenade No. 1, Op. 11” by Johannes Brahms, and “Serenade No. 12 in C minor, K. 388” by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.

They offered up Sofia Gubaidulina’s “Hommage a T.S. Eliot”, Anatoly Liadov’s “Eight Russian Folksongs”, Stravinsky’s “Pastorale” and Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky’s “Serenade for Strings, Op. 48” on 25^th March 2012.

Recordings on which Richard appears include Michael Gandolfi: From the Institutes of Groove, the soundtracks of Saving Private Ryan and Schindler’s List, and Schumann/Poulenc/Ibert/Loeffler/Mozart with Alfred Genovese and Peter Serkin.

In the field of music education, he has taught at the Glickman-Popkin Bassoon Camp, the Grand Teton Orchestral Seminar, the New England Conservatory of Music, the Northeast Conservatory of Music, the Sarasota Music Festival, the Symphony School of America, and Tanglewood Music Center.

He also published a music instruction book entitled Daily Scale Exercises for Bassoon.

Sources:

Svoboda, Richard

Navigation