In this continuing photo project by Beckie Kern, Mark Ortwein (ISO Contrabassoon) talks about his new projects, new collaborations, and a new puppy.
"At the beginning of the pandemic we spent most of our time at our new lakehouse less than an hour South of Indianapolis. It was certainly a nice diversion to be out of the city and be able go out on the boat and kayaks and take walks in the woods daily. I also started practicing things I didn't have time to in years, including making videos of myself playing duets all the way up to a septet (playing flute, clarinet, bass clarinet, bassoon, soprano saxophone, tenor saxophone and a WX11 - electronic woodwind instrument).
The Sounds of Silence for "mostly" woodwind ensemble - arranged and played by Mark Ortwein I also made a lot of Bassoon reeds! Most of which are still there waiting for me to finish them, which is good to have a stock pile aging. After awhile, with no concerts going to happen and the weather getting nicer, I spent more time fishing and working on the house at the lake and less time doing musical activities. I was lucky to have a weekly gig at an Italian restaurant playing a duo (sax and guitar) and some other live gigs here and there, but that all vanished around Thanksgiving. I'm looking forward to some of that work to start opening back up this summer.
Losing our normal paycheck made it necessary to sell bassoon reeds, expand my Ortwein Woodwinds products business, start back up my woodwind repair business, apprentice with a Bassoon repair specialist, get set up to record studio quality products at home, and set up to do online teaching and masterclasses at home. This year has really changed the world of recording and online classes and teaching. I have recorded for albums and projects for people in New York, Chicago, Hollywood, Albania, Austin, etc... I have also started 2 albums of my own - one is classically-based, including several commissioned works, and the other is jazz, Latin and R&B. Trying to keep busy musically!
We added an English Bulldog puppy, Frank Blutarsky Bone, to our family in August, so that has been fun and a treat to be home with him all the time the past several months.
I'm very much looking forward to playing with my colleagues in the ISO soon!"
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