THE FLORIDA STATE UNIVERSITY College of Music presents
Guest Artist Recital of Frank Morelli, Bassoon
Liliya Ugay, Piano
Tuesday, March 18, 2025
7:30 p.m. | Longmire Recital Hall
To Ensure An Enjoyable Concert Experience For All…
Please refrain from talking, entering, or exiting during performances. Food and drink are prohibited in all concert halls. Recording or broadcasting of the concert by any means, including the use of digital cameras, cell phones, or other devices is expressly forbidden. Please deactivate all portable electronic devices including watches, cell phones, pagers, hand-held gaming devices or other electronic equipment that may distract the audience or performers.
Recording Notice: This performance may be recorded. Please note that members of the audience may at times be included in this process. By attending this performance you consent to have your image or likeness appear in any live or recorded video or other transmission or reproduction made in conjunction to the performance.
Florida State University provides accommodations for persons with disabilities. Please notify the College of Music at (850) 644-3424 at least five working days prior to a musical event to request accommodation for disability or alternative program format.
Sixteen Waltzes for Solo Bassoon (1979-1981) Francisco Mignone
Valsa improvisada (1897–1986)
Valsa ingênua
A boa Páscoa para você, Devos!
Prayer (2022) Nirmali Fenn (b. 1979)
Souvenirs (2025)
Liliya Ugay
I. moment (b. 1990)
II. cord
Dichterliebe, Op.48
INTERMISSION
Robert Schumann
I. Im wunderschönen Monat Mai (1810–1856)
II. Aus meinen Tränen sprießen
III. Die Rose, die Lilie
IV. Wenn ich in deine Augen seh’
V. Ich will meine Seele tauchen
VI. Im Rhein, im heiligen Strome
VII. Ich grolle nicht
X. Hör’ ich das Liedchen klingen
Andante and Rondo ungarese, Op. 35 (1813)
Carl Maria von Weber
I. Andante (1786–1826)
II. Allegretto ungarese
Introduced to the bassoon in the Massapequa, LI, NY public schools, Frank Morelli later studied with Stephen Maxym, and was the first bassoonist to be awarded a doctorate by The Juilliard School. He has appeared as soloist at Carnegie Hall on nine occasions and performed regularly with the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center for over thirty years, including at the Whitehouse for the final State Dinner of the Clinton Presidency. Morelli recently retired after 45 years as Co-Principal Bassoon of the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra. In his 31st year as Associate Professor Adjunct of bassoon and chamber music at the Yale School of Music, he held faculty positions in the past at the Aaron Copland School of Music, CUNY Queens, the Manhattan School of Music, where he continues as a member of the woodwind quintet in residence, Windscape, The Juilliard School (1991-2021), and SUNY Stony Brook (2004-2023).
With nearly 200 CDs to his credit, Morelli recently released An die Musik with music of Schubert, Schumann and Brahms on the Musica Solis label. He also has four solo CDs on MSR Classics: From the Heart and Romance and Caprice, with pianist Gilbert Kalish, Bassoon Brasileiro with the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, and Baroque Fireworks with Kenneth Cooper. Of his DG recording of Mozart’s Bassoon Concerto with Orpheus, Fanfare Magazine stated that this recording “reset a reviewer’s standards at too high a level for comfort in a world more productive of ordinary music making.” The magazine Gramophone wrote: “DG…recorded all of Mozart’s wind concertos with Orpheus players as soloists…Frank Morelli’s Bassoon Concerto is probably the pick of this series.” And “Morelli’s playing is a joy to behold.” The American Record Guide stated: “the bassoon playing … is a good as it gets.” Jazz Weekly.com stated of Morelli’s recent foray into jazz (The OX-MO Incident - Capri CD) with saxophonist Keith Oxman: “Morelli makes the usually unwieldy bassoon work wonders…the team bops with delight on a fun filled “Surrey With The Fringe On Top.” Morelli glistens on the classical-themed “Full Moon and Empty Arms” and is elegiac on “Three For Five.” The Orpheus CD Shadow Dances, that features Frank Morelli, won a 2001 Grammy Award. Morelli is also heard in a supporting role on two CDs by legendary saxophonist Wayne Shorter that are also Grammy winners.
A performer or juror at the most prestigious festivals worldwide, he is a member of Windscape, quintet in residence at MSM, with whom he has recorded several CDs, including one featuring the music of Maurice Ravel, which includes Morelli’s transcriptions of Mother Goose and Valses nobles et senimentales, both published by TrevCo. His other numerous published transcriptions (also TrevCo), as well as the landmark excerpt book, Stravinsky: Difficult Passages for Bassoon (Boosey & Hawkes) and his unmatched edition of the most celebrated bassoon method, The First Complete Weissenborn Method and Studies (Carl Fischer) have all proven to be extremely popular.
Frank Morelli plays a Leitzinger bassoon exclusively. Visit morellibassoon.com.