BASSOONIST TAKES RARE SOLO ROLE

Its original Italian name means “a bundle of sticks”--or something like that. But to most concert-goers, the bassoon is just a big, funny instrument that plays a lot of low notes and rarely does anything of importance.

Kenneth Munday objects.

“I’ve always wanted to make people aware that the bassoon is not a silly instrument, that it can make important musical statements,” he says. On Saturday night at Orange Coast College, Munday will strive to convince those assembled at a concert by the South Coast Symphony of the bassoon’s importance when he appears as soloist in Mozart’s exquisite B-flat Concerto.

“I realize it’s an oddity for an audience to see the bassoon center stage,” the 32-year-old musician said in a interview. “But what is so nice about the Mozart concerto is that a different side of the instrument can be seen. This is not the typical orchestral music usually assigned to it. The Mozart is so operatic--particularly the slow movement. It’s right out of ‘The Marriage of Figaro.’ ”

As principal bassoonist with the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra, and a member of that group’s subsidiary chamber ensemble, Musical Offering, Munday has been a fixture on the local chamber scene for some time now. Does the shift to the spotlight indicate a career change? Are we talking about the James Galway of the bassoon? Is the world ready?

Munday laughed at the thought and replied:”I don’t think it’s the right instrument for a solo career. Even if a big new concerto were written for it, I wonder how much the bassoon would be sought out (as a solo voice). Though it would be wonderful if it became a popular instrument.”

But fame is just not in the cards for the instrument Munday loves so much (“I’ve played accordion, flute, guitar, drums, clarinet and saxophone, and there’s nothing I’d rather do than play bassoon”). Part of the problem, he theorized, is lack of repertory.

“If I was actually going to get serious about a solo career--I’m young, after all--the first thing I’d do is go to Europe and do some research and find some new pieces. Eventually, I think, some other works that are really terrific would show up.”

Until such time, Munday said, the Mozart will do fine as the solo bassoon vehicle. “As a soloist, I know I’m going to play it a lot of times. But I’ll try different things: changes in tempos, different articulations, various cadenzas. Little things like that can really give it a different life.”

What about playing the work on a period instrument? No, thank you, he replied. “I don’t play baroque or classical bassoons. But I understand the (concerto’s) key of B-flat is a lot easier on the older instrument. I think the period instrument thing is a fad. You can do the same stylistic things on a modern instrument. The Mozart on a modern instrument is more difficult, I understand.”

Right now, Munday said, “I find I’m really growing with the piece. You can’t get bored doing the same repertory if you’re a person who likes to change. I think I could play it (the Mozart) for years and years.”

With not much else to speak of in the solo repertory, except for 38 concertos by Vivaldi (“sewing machine music,” he joked), the bassoonist may have to be content to do just that.