Performer Details
Performer Bio Synopsis
The Sooner Bassooners, under the direction of Professor Rodney Ackmann, is an integral part of the bassoon studio curriculum at the University of Oklahoma. This ensemble, encompassing both undergraduate and graduate students, was founded in 1984 by OU Professor Emeritus, Carl Rath, and includes music majors and non-majors. The "Bassooners" perform a wide array of musical styles from renaissance to 21st century, which range from four to twelve parts.
In 2001, the Sooner Bassooners performed at the 29th Annual Conference of the International Double Reed Society (IDRS) in Buenos Aires. They were later heard in a pre-concert performance of the Dallas Symphony at the Meyerson Symphony Center. In addition to their always popular recitals at the OU School of Music, the "Bassooners" have performed educational and community outreach programs throughout the state. They were featured at the 2013, 2017 and 2022 Oklahoma Music Educators Association (OkMEA) Conferences. They have also performed for the Norman Rotary Club, the Oklahoma City Zoo and a Centennial Celebration in Ardmore, OK. More recently, they performed the National Anthem at center court of the Paycom Center for the National Basketball Association's (NBA) Oklahoma City Thunder. The Sooner Bassooners last performed at the Midwest Clinic in 2017 where they accompanied Chicago Symphony trumpeter, John Hagstrom, in the Haydn Trumpet Concerto.
Members of the ensemble have won numerous statewide and local awards in the Music Teachers National Conference (MTNA), Oklahoma City Ladies Club Young Artists Competition, and featured on National Public Radio's (NPR) From the Top. Sooner Bassooner alumni can be found in US Military Bands, professional Symphony Orchestras, teaching at the college level and in public school classrooms across the nation.
University of Oklahoma Sooner Bassooners
Conductor's Bio
Rodney Ackmann is the Irene and Julius J. Rothbaum Presidential Professor for Excellence in the Arts, Professor of Bassoon at the University of Oklahoma where he also performs as a member of the Oklahoma Wind Quintet, and is Director of the renowned Sooner Bassooners. Additionally, he serves as Principal Bassoonist of the Oklahoma City Philharmonic and performs as a member of the Brightmusic Chamber Ensemble. Mr. Ackmann previously served as Principal Bassoonist of the Tulsa Philharmonic and Tulsa Opera Orchestra for 22 seasons. Other performance affiliations have included the Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra, Solisti New York, Kansas City Symphony, Odyssey and Nova Chamber Music Series, and the Musica nel Chiostro, Spoleto and Assisi Music Festivals in Italy.
As guest soloist, Ackmann has appeared with the Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra, Musica Regala, and numerous times with the Tulsa Philharmonic. He has also performed as soloist in the People's Republic of China at the Forbidden City Concert Hall, Beijing, and before an audience of 8,000 at Chongqing University. In 2015, he was one of only seven Americans, among 123 musicians invited from 43 countries, to perform with the 24/04 World Orchestra in Yerevan, Armenia He has recorded for Chandos, Mark Records, and Enharmonic, and has been heard on National Public Radio’s (NPR) “Performance Today”.
Mr. Ackmann has performed numerous solo and collaborative recitals at six recent conferences of the International Double Reed Society (IDRS), both in the United States and abroad. In 2011 and 2017, he led highly acclaimed performances of the University of Missouri Bassoon Ensemble and the Sooner Bassooners, respectively, at the prestigious Midwest International Band and Orchestra Clinic, accompanying soloists from the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. He has also presented pedagogical clinics as well as performed at the Midwest International Band and Orchestra Clinic and state music educators’ conferences in Texas, Michigan, Florida, Nevada and Missouri. Mr. Ackmann served as a juror for the final round of the 2012 Meg Quigley Vivaldi International Competition in Stockton, California.
Prior to joining the OU faculty, he served as Professor of Bassoon at the University of Missouri School of Music, and for seven summers as Visiting Assistant Professor of Bassoon at the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music. Mr. Ackmann's students have been featured on NPR’s “From The Top”, and won numerous awards in the Music Teachers National Association Competition, in both solo and chamber music categories. His students have also performed in Master Classes for annual conferences of the IDRS and the Midwest Double Reed Society (MDRS).
Mr. Ackmann holds the Bachelor of Music Education, Master of Music, and Performer's Certificate from the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music where he studied with Leonard Sharrow and Sidney Rosenberg. He currently serves on the Music Advisory Panel for the Oklahoma Arts Institute, District Representative for the MDRS, as well as Instrumental Music Coordinator for the Auditions and Competitions Committee of the Oklahoma Music Teachers Association.
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