BASSOONIST Luis Tasso Santos and his double bass playing partner Ebony are growing tired of the same ‘old’ tune they play together.
“For double bass and bassoon duet, there’s only one piece to play for that and my partner is a double bassist so we haven’t had much music to play together,” Santos explained.
He is set to do his part to rectify that situation for musicians everywhere by taking up an international scholarship at a Dutch music academy next month, where he will commission, perform and record new music for early, baroque and classical bassoon, a Renaissance-era rackett, double bass and bassoon duet and solo bassoon works with electronics.
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READ NOWThe 19-year-old from Heathridge said he wanted to have a greater variety of new music to play for these underrated instruments and to eventually buy his own Classical bassoon and contrabass rackett.
“The repertoire we have for these instruments is very old music, from at least 300 years ago,” he said.
Santos was the recipient of the 2018 Anniversary Scholarship from Royal Schools Music Club and received $5000 to be paid over two years for this project.
The former Trinity College student is somewhat of a music prodigy, capable of playing at least seven instruments and even conducting a 160-piece orchestra during his school years.
Before jetting off to the Conservatorium van Amsterdam with Ebony, the couple will hold a public farewell recital at St George’s College in Crawley on August 25.
Santos said he had been thinking about exploring music outside of Australia for a long time to join a larger community of musicians playing these instruments.
“If I have more bassoonists around me, I’ll be more competitive and have more people to support me,” he said.
“Netherlands as a country and Amsterdam as a city has a long history with music and arguably has one of the best contemporary music scenes.
“Hopefully I’ll be in Amsterdam for the rest of my life but if something comes up, I’ll move.”
Luis and Ebony’s Farewell Recital
When: Saturday, August 25 at 3pm
Where: Dining Hall at St George’s College, 44 Mounts Bay Road, Crawley