SNN_August 2020 Issue FA_low res

NEW ZEALAND SPINAL TRUST 10
getting back to professional-level playing. I am very happy
to say that I am playing again, and have been for the last
two years, with the Dunedin Symphony Orchestra and
with other professional music groups. It certainly has been
a tremendous struggle, but I tried not to give up hope of
ever playing again.
How did you refocus your musical ability and talent?
After two years of struggling to play oboe again, I set my
heart on playing bassoon to a pro-level. I practised hard
for hours, learning finger patterns and playing long notes.
I made great progress and auditioned for the Dunedin
Symphony Orchestra.
Clearly, I still had work to do, as they politely gave me a list
of things to work on! I took a trip to Sydney where my son,
Todd, helped me to find a bassoon to purchase. He played
principal bassoon for the Sydney Symphony Orchestra.
After the trip and choosing a bassoon, I returned to
Dunedin and had one final go at playing oboe. I scraped
reeds over a week-end (professional oboe players always
make their own reeds) and gave the oboe one more go. I
hadn’t tried it for months, as it was always such a difficult
experience. Unbelievably, my efforts paid off, and a
revelation occurred.
How important has playing music been for you during
your recovery, and what do you love about playing the
oboe?
Playing the oboe for me is a way of perceiving beauty in
the natural world, and representing it in the best way I
can, using the sound of the oboe. It is a way of expressing a
huge range of emotion from sadness through to complete
elation, and every nuance in between. The mystery of
music is in the unspoken word, in the inexpressible
emotion which is only communicated through musical
sound. In playing music, you can reach a connection with
the essence of feeling emotion and sharing that with
others. Playing music in a group is always a powerful way
to work, as you can connect with the emotion of master
composers from many years ago.
It must be incredibly rewarding to play music, after all
you have been through?
It is almost a miracle for me now to be playing classical
music with others, at a professional level. It is an
incredibly rewarding and joyful experience. I have such a
lot to be thankful for, as I am still employed to teach music
in schools, as an itinerant woodwind teacher in Dunedin.
Also, I have great family support, which was a key part of
my recovery too.