Electric bassoon rock!

Austin Durham - composer/arranger/bassoon/electronics

Honoured as a "world class jazz singer" for her "spellbinding voice" and "boldly unique style" (−Everett. R. Davis, All About Jazz), Toronto-born, Brooklyn-based vocalist, poet and composer Lara Solnicki enjoys a busy schedule, with #1 songs on Canadian jazz radio and web charts (Radio Canada, CBC), garnering rave reviews from four continents. She is the recipient of numerous CD recording, composition, international residency and professional development grants and awards from The Canada Council for the Arts, The Chalmers Foundation, The Ontario Arts Council, the Toronto Arts Council and FACTOR.

Praised for “her spontaneous interpretation of standard and original repertoire, teeming with individualism and vocal mastery." (−Hot House Jazz Guide, New York, Spotlight, February, 2018) for "her outstanding musicianship", "superb vocal technique" (−Thomas Cunniffe, Jazz History Online), and for "the purity of her voice, her understanding of the most subtle nuances in lyrics and melody, and the freshness, intelligence and wit she invests in every interpretation" (−Stanley Péan, Host, Quand le jazz est là- Espace Musique), Lara was a finalist in the Révélations Radio-Canada 2014 competition, jazz artist category. www.larasolnicki.com

 

She has released two CDs; "A Meadow in December" (2010, Independent), and “Whose Shadow?” (2014) joining jazz icon Greg Osby’s US label Inner Circle Music, listed in January 2016 as one of the Best Vocal Jazz releases of 2015 (Jazz History Online). She is preparing for the release of her third album in early 2019 "The One and the Other", a cinematic art song project of her original material, produced and arranged by multi award winning Canadian musician and composer, Jonathan Goldsmith. She has been featured in CD compilations produced by JAZZIZ magazine, and "For Jazz Vocal Fans Only vol. 1" (Japan).

 

A classically trained singer with a four octave range, Lara originally intended a career in opera, receiving a BA from The Glenn Gould School/ Royal Conservatory of Music where she was the recipient of numerous scholarships, studying in the Performance Diploma and Artist Diploma programs. In addition, she has studied with dozens of international educators in the fields of classical music, jazz and creative music. www.larasolnicki.com

Das Fagott Mannschaft (German for 'the bassoon team') is a quartet of classically trained yet slightly unhinged bassoonists whose creativity cannot be contained by your typical symphony orchestra.

Das Fagott Mannschaft has performed for thousands at Yonge-Dundas Square, appeared at the Northern Lights Festival Boréal, and played to standing-room only crowds at pubs, cabarets and burlesque shows in the Greater Toronto Area.

Their covers of great tunes from today and yesteryear have been entertaining audiences in pubs, cabarets and on street corners since 2011, and prove that the bassoon can rock out as well as any hairspray guitarist or disheveled yet unnaturally mellow drummer.

Followers of Das Fagott Mannschaft