Nicolasa Kuster
bassoon
Kyle Bruckmann, oboe
Anne Rainwater, guest piano
Thursday, August 28, 2025
7:30 pm
Recital Hall
28, 2025, 7:30 PM
Allegro Giocoso for Bassoon and Piano (1993)
Anne Rainwater, piano
What Can I Do? for Solo Bassoon Playing and Speaking (2021)
Tema y variaciones sobre "La Nana" by José Ramón Gomis (2021)
Kyle Bruckmann, oboe
Argenta, a Little Argentian Suite for Bassoon and Piano (2016)
Zamba - Tango
Malambo
Vidala Milonga
The Wildflower Trio (2004) Wildflowers
Wild Rose and Butterfly
The Hummingbird
Indian Paintbrush
Summer Garden
Anne Rainwater, piano
Ida Gotkovsky (b. 1933)
Kyle Bruckmann, oboe
Anne Rainwater, piano
John Steinmetz (b. 1951)
Jenni Brandon (b. 1977) Johanny Navarro (b. 1992)
Noelia Escalzo (b. 1979)
Steinmetz: What Can I Do? for Solo Bassoon, Playing and Speaking
I grew up adapting to the way of life I was born into—with its internal combustion engines, household machines, supermarkets, factories, throwaway plastics, and other features of industrial society. I assumed it was normal, but, as you know, this way of living has been heating up our planet so much that humanity may not survive. We are taking other species down with us—and entire ecosystems. This way of life may feel familiar to me, but it is not normal; it is destructive.
In order to stop the destruction and restore our habitat, we in the industrialized world will need to make changes in the way we do things. As you may have noticed, humans often resist change. But I hope we will be able to make the necessary shifts. Many of us think that the changes could bring about ways of living that are more vibrant, enjoyable, and meaningful than what we have now. (One encouraging scientific study of the logistics is Mobilizing for a Zero Carbon America: Jobs, Jobs, Jobs, and More Jobs by Saul Griffith and Sam Calisch.) I believe that we can do it, if we work together, and if we do not leave Humanity's future in the hands of the rich and powerful. I would like humans to continue to live and love and participate in the wonders of this astonishing planet. This piece is a small gesture in that direction.
Many thanks to Ann Shoemaker for test-driving this music and giving the premiere at Baylor University. Deep thanks to the people and organizations working on many fronts to protect and renew ecosystems.
—John Steinmetz
Brandon: Wildflower Trio for Oboe, Bassoon, and Piano
The Wildflower Trio for Oboe, Bassoon, and Piano was commissioned in 2004 by the College of Fine Arts of the University of Texas in Austin to honor and celebrate the life and environmental work of Lady Bird Johnson. The inspiration for the piece came from a poetry book written by one of Mrs. Johnson's friends Bette Woolsey Castro. Her book, The Wildflower, was inspired by the opening of Ladybird’s Wildflower Research Center in Austin and contains a collection of poems about wildflowers and nature.
The five movements are based on the imagery from several of these poems. The beautiful combination of the oboe, bassoon, and piano lend themselves to creating distinct colors and sounds that represent the wildflowers, hummingbirds, and summer afternoons in quiet gardens.
I had the honor and privilege of composing this piece for two fine musicians to premiere. Rebecca Henderson, oboe, and Kristen Wolfe Jensen, bassoon, have performed this piece around the world with a variety of pianists
PROGRAM NOTES
including at the international Double Reed Society conference in Melbourne, Australia, in June 2004 as well as for Mrs. Johnson at her Wildflower Center in Austin, Texas.
—Jenni Brandon
The Wildflower
They grow in random, scattered splendor, A magical blending of the land’s bright hues, Stretching across the hills and valleys In never ending majesty.
We call these magic flowers wildWild because they scorn man’s power And live and thrive without his care, Wild because through drought and storm They ride the winds to bring the seasons That lift the heart.
A glorious tapestry, God’s own needlepoint!
Forever brilliant, Forever wondrous, Forever wild!
Wild Rose, White Butterfly
Silken petals, silken wings
A flutter of white: Poignant, playful closeness.
Unexpected moments
Of the heart’s recall Distant memories of joy And happiness shared.
Miraculous matter
Within your gossamer wings; Is the mystery of your message The sweet foreverness of love?
PROGRAM NOTES
The Trumpet Creeper and the Hummingbird I watched from the window
As the hummingbird came, Swift as lightening, His wings a song in motion.
Dipping into the brilliant blossom, His slender beak
Took the nectar once again
As man takes the beauty of the flower
To renew the joy of living.
Indian Paintbrush
Ragged plant whose vermilion bracts
Transform the desert drab, You gather reflections of the sun, Turning them to red-orange pigments, Tinged with nature’s gold.
Dipping your leaves into their magic, You paint the secrets of our landscape
With glowing, scarlet fervor, Dazzling the beholder, Enriching his senses
With the lasting gift of beauty.
Midsummer in the Garden
Shafts of sunlight filtering through, Paling the leaves of green, Brighten the morn’s crisp awakening.
Bird song in dulcet tones
Colors the air with a message of hope.
The garden languishes in midsummer stillness.
Gone are the periwinkle, violet, and daffodil.
The day lily has turned to a green-leaf slumber
And the wild geranium now commands the eye.
But oh, the rose!
How splendidly it rallies
To bloom again in soft, glorious abandon, Giving its notice to all
That summer still demands to live!
Nicolasa Kuster, is professor of bassoon and associate dean of academic affairs at University of the Pacific, enjoying a rich orchestral, chamber, and solo performing life around northern California and beyond. She founded the Meg Quigley Vivaldi Competition, a biennial competition for young women bassoonists from the Americas.
Kuster is principal bassoon of the Stockton Symphony Orchestra and New Hampshire Music Festival Orchestra and second bassoon of the Monterey Symphony and Sacramento Philharmonic. Previous positions include the Wichita Symphony, the Tulsa Philharmonic Orchestra, the Rhode Island Philharmonic, and the Virginia Symphony. Her solo appearances with orchestra include performing Ellen Taaffe Zwilich's Bassoon Concerto in the opening gala performance of the International Double Reed Society in 2013, Peter Schickele's Concerto for Bassoon and Orchestra with the Stockton Symphony in 2015, multiple-city tours of Kazakhstan, as well as televised performances in Italy and Panama. Kuster is the winner of the 1995 Chicago Musicians Club of Women's Solo Competition Farwell Award. She is a double degree graduate from Oberlin College and Conservatory with a Bachelor of Music in bassoon performance and a Bachelor of Arts in religion, currently pursuing a doctoral degree in organizational change and leadership from University of Southern California. Her solo album, Metamorphosis, can be found at NicolasaKuster.com.
Oboist Kyle Bruckmann is assistant professor of practice and program director of Varied Ensembles at University of the Pacific. Bruckmann tramples genre boundaries in widely ranging work as a composer/performer, educator and new music specialist. His creative output—extending from conservatory-trained foundations into gray areas encompassing free jazz, post-punk rock, and the noise underground—can be heard on more than 100 recordings. Hist current ensemble affiliations include Splinter Reeds, SFCMP, Eco Ensemble, Quinteto Latino, and the Stockton Symphony; significant projects he has led or collaboratively founded include Degradient, EKG, Lozenge, and Wrack.
Concert pianist Anne Rainwater is a dexterous musician known for her vibrant interpretations of works from Johann Sebastian Bach to John Zorn. Recognized for her “boldly assertive rhetoric” (San Francisco Examiner) and “sensitivity to performance and interpretation” (TEMPO magazine), she engages audiences as a soloist, chamber musician and lecture artist around the country. Rainwater has performed in venues and festivals throughout the US and Europe, including the Kennedy Center, the Donau Festival in Austria, Kampnagel in Germany, Severance Hall, Cal Performances, Stanford University, Roulette and Le Poisson Rouge. Diverse appearances include chamber music performances at Mass MOCA and Bargemusic, concerto performances at UC San Diego and Mendocino College, and radio interviews. She curates a monthly musical gathering called the Vernon Salon Series, which she founded in 2016. Rainwater has released 3 solo albums. She is a 2019 recipient of an InterMusic SF Grant. Inspired by an early interest in the writings of Noam Chomsky and Fritjof Capra, she is working on a series of long-form essays which explore the intersection of cognition, movement and ecosystems with the processes responsible for understanding and performing music. Rainwater is a member of Beyond Artists, an organization whose members pledge to donate portions of their performance fees to organizations they support and care about.
Every gift to the Conservatory from an alum, parent, or friend makes an impact on our students. Our students rely on your generosity to enable them to experience a superior education.
Please contact the Assistant Dean for Development at 209.932.2978 to make a gift today. You may also send a check payable to University of the Pacific: Conservatory of Music, University of the Pacific Attn: Assistant Dean for Development 3601 Pacific Avenue Stockton, CA 95211
To view our upcoming events, scan the QR code or visit Pacific.edu/MusicEvents