Evan Kuhlmann speaks with Meg Grace about the lush Pink Martini sound and favorite music to do taxes by.

I met Evan Kuhlmann at a Portland Gay Symphonic Band rehearsal a few years ago. As he was a new face in the band, I introduced myself during the break. Evan’s full-time job is Assistant Principal Bassoon for the Oregon Symphony in which he plays the contrabassoon in addition to bassoon. He is also a talented jazz pianist. We had an opportunity to play a jazz gig together during 2008 Portland Pride Celebration.
Portland’s Pink Martini and the Oregon Symphony will perform together for the band’s first live recording with orchestra. I organized a field trip for interested students and friends to attend the May 31 show. I caught up with Evan last month and we talked about taking music lessons, practicing, and working with Pink Martini.

In The Beginning…

Meg Grace: When did you start music lessons?

Evan Kuhlmann: I started taking Suzuki piano lessons when I was 5 and quit about 6 years later. I never took clarinet or jazz piano lessons, but began taking bassoon lessons when I was about 13.

MG: How did you come to choose learning music and specifically the bassoon?

EK: It wasn’t really a choice at first, but I was never forced to play or practice. The reason that I started playing the bassoon was that I was very bad at the clarinet, and it was frustrating me. On the other hand, I never practiced or took lessons. But when I saw and heard the bassoon, I was captivated – I wanted to start playing as early as 5th grade, but it took a while to get an instrument. I loved the sound of the bassoon more than anything, specifically the opening solo in Stravinsky’s “The Rite of Spring.”

MG: What musical stories do you have from your youth? How was music experienced in your childhood home?

EK: I can sleep through almost any sound, as my parents were both rock drummers playing in tons of bands while I grew up. I remember rehearsals going on in the basement until very late at night, but it stopped bothering me very early on. Even living next to the subway in NYC during college didn’t bother me!

Inspiration for Practice

MG: Where do you like to practice? Does setting have an impact on your practice?

EK: Anywhere really, but I like to have a window in the room. Without natural light, or at least a window, it’s hard for me to be inspired.

MG: What keeps you motivated to practice? Has that changed over time?

EK: A good teacher can motivate students to practice fairly consistently. But also, finding the right pieces, even if they aren’t originally written for your instrument.

MG: So what do you do when you don’t feel like practicing?

EK: I think the best cure is to listen to new music, see a new movie, read a new book, go to an art gallery, go see live music… Nothing inspires me more than seeing how many ways other people approach similar creative questions.

Bassoon Heroes

MG: I have a student who, after putting his clarinet together, always plays the same three notes to start. Do you have a ‘beginning ritual’ when you sit down to play your bassoon?

EK: Definitely, and most of my bassoon heroes do too! For me, it changes depending on what I’m about to play/practice, but I usually have the same goals: to get my fingers moving, cover the range of the instrument, find my sound, find my dynamic range, and of course get in tune.
MG: What are some of your favorite pieces of music?

EK: Almost everything! This is a surprisingly difficult question to answer, so I’ll just let you know that the last album that I listened to was Bill Evans’ New Jazz Conceptions yesterday while I was cleaning my apartment and doing taxes. It is a terrific album, I can’t begin to say enough good things about it. [Listen to Bill Evans Radio on LastFM]

MG: What type of music do you listen to when you are not “on the clock” or just for fun?

EK: Again, everything! Sometimes I’m in the mood for anything but classical, as that’s what I do for a living, but there are times that classical is just the ticket. When I have a long drive ahead of me, I like music along the lines of John Adams’ Harmonielehre or Grand Pianola Music, or Steve Reich’s Music for 18 Musicians or Variations for Vibes, Pianos and Strings. The middle section of Roy Harris’ Symphony No. 3 is perfect. It’s like watching the mid-American countryside unfold through a train window. I’m getting carried away, but I guess what I mean to say is that it depends on the situation!

Adult Beginning Students

MG: I work with adults learning the sax and clarinet, as well as youth. What advice do you have for people taking up an instrument in adulthood?

EK: First of all, good for you! It’s never too late, and the saying about old dogs and new tricks is stupid. I think that ensemble experience is essential, as is a good teacher, but often the biggest challenge is finding the time to practice – with distractions like work, family, house, bills… But honestly, I believe that for at least an hour a day, it can all wait. Even if you find yourself playing a melody you love with a tuner and focusing on beauty of sound for 10 minutes, it can be enough.

Playing with Pink Martini

MG: What is it like to work with Pink Martini in preparing for the May 31 show?

EK: We haven’t started rehearsing yet, but I played a jazzy version of Peter and the Wolf with Pink Martini and it was a pleasure to work with them. The band is excellent, from the amazing rhythm section to the lush string arrangements. It should be a great show!

MG: Does playing music for a living ever feel like work? Asked another way, have you ever seen your bassoon as a job?

EK: Honestly, yes. But that’s not just because it’s my job. Challenging yourself to improve at your instrument is never easy, but unlike many other jobs, it is infinitely rewarding.

Pressure to be perfect.

MG: Certainly the Symphony has high expectations and rigorous standards for its musicians. How you do deal with that pressure? Or does it even feel like pressure to you?

EK: It can be a stressful job, there is no time for excuses – especially concerning preparation. But when I feel ready, there’s nothing that stressful about it. You may still be asked to do something you’ve never done before with the music, but if you’ve prepared adequately to begin with, suggestions can seem more like helpful ideas (which they really always are) than complaints about your technique or musicality.

MG: What would you like to share about being a professional musician that I haven’t asked about?

EK: That it’s a full-time job! I spend 20 hours at the hall every week with the orchestra in rehearsal or in concert, but I spend even more hours per week practicing at home, making reeds, studying scores. To me, the mark of an excellent musician is not only how prepared they are but also how well-rounded they are. There are so many different ways to approach playing an instrument, and so many different ways to practice; I feel that I’m never going to run out of things to work on.

Music is a lot more fun when you’ve practiced.

MG: I tell my students that mistakes are welcome in my studio. We all make mistakes. Sometimes a mistake can be a gift in helping you see a new way to do that with which you are struggling. How would a philosophy like that be received by the conductor or other members of the orchestra?

EK: Well, everybody makes mistakes, and honest mistakes are usually laughed off in the orchestra. However, we may only have one chance to rehearse something before the concert and making repeated mistakes due to a lack of preparation isn’t taken lightly.

I’ve heard so many mistakes in lessons (made by myself AND students) that no one mistake is really going to bother me. Even mistakes due to a lack of preparation are just an opportunity for me to teach practice strategies. Often I think that the biggest assistance that I can give a student is to teach them how to practice on their own, since that is the majority of the work they should be doing in an average week. I try to do that in every lesson – leave the student with a clear sense of what they now need to do on their own in the next week and how to do it.

I do start to get concerned when I hear the same note missed week after week. When I was in high school, a conductor once told me “amateurs try to remember, professionals write it down.” And now that I play music for a living, I can confirm that. Anyway, music is a lot more fun when you’ve practiced. You may never really feel fully prepared, but most professionals don’t either. In the end it’s one of those “journey not the destination” things, and that’s alright.