Douglas Spaniol

Hailed as a 'master pedagogue and researcher' (The Double Reed), Doug Spaniol is Professor of Music at Butler University where he teaches bassoon, reed-making, chamber music, and music theory. He also serves as Instructor of Bassoon at Interlochen Arts Camp each summer. He has twice been a visiting professor at The Ohio State University and previously served on the faculty at Valdosta State University. His bassoon students have enjoyed remarkable success, placing in the Yamaha Young Performing Artists Competition, the International Double Reed Society’s Young Artists Competition, and the Meg Quigley Vivaldi Competition. Other competition successes have lead to concerto performances with the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra (two students), the Butler Symphony Orchestra (seven students), and Interlochen's World Youth Symphony Orchestra (three students). His students have also performed on National Public Radio’s From the Top and won positions and/or performed with the National Symphony Orchestra (Washington DC), Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra, Louisville Orchestra, Indianapolis Chamber Orchestra, Sinfonia da Camera, and other professional ensembles. In 1992, Dr. Spaniol was named a Marshall Scholar enabling him to attend the Royal Northern College of Music in Manchester, England, where he earned the Postgraduate Diploma in Performance. He also received a DMA degree from The Ohio State University as well as MM and BM degrees from the University of Illinois. His bassoon teachers include Christopher Weait, William Waterhouse, and E. Sanford Berry. In 2011, Dr. Spaniol was named a Fulbright Scholar, leading him to teach at the University of York (UK) and further his research of Julius Weissenborn’s pedagogical bassoon works. The New Weissenborn Method for Bassoon (Hal Leonard), has been called "an invaluable addition to bassoon literature...a landmark in pedagogy" (DoubleReed News). Volume II of the New Weissenborn Method provides advanced students "an easy system where skills can be checked off as they are accomplished" (The Double Reed). His recent edition of Weissenborn’s Advanced Studies, op. 8, no 2 (Accolade Musikverlag) was noted as “a must buy for every bassoonist” (The Double Reed), largely because it makes available for the first time all 60 of these studies. Along with Bodo Koenigsbeck, Spaniol is co-editor of the three-volume set of Weissenborn’s complete works for bassoon and piano, which includes three recently discovered works (Accolade Musikverlag). Dr. Spaniol has presented masterclasses and workshops at the Royal Academy of Music (London), Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama, the St. Petersburg (Russia) Conservatory, Indiana University, and many others. He frequently appears as a performer/presenter at conferences hosted by the International Double Reed Society (IDRS), College Music Society, Music for All, and other music education organizations. He also served for six years as the Bassoon Chair for the IDRS's Fernand Gillet - Hugo Fox Competition. As a performer, Dr.Spaniol is a founding member of Rock E Bassoon - a rock band comprised of seven electric bassoons and a drummer - and has performed and/or recorded with popular artists such as The Rolling Stones, Art Garfunkel, Sandi Patty, and Michael Feinstein. In more traditional bassoon playing, he has appeared as concerto soloist with Sinfonia da Camera, the St. Petersburg Classical Symphony Orchestra, Solisti St. Petersburg, and the Philharmonic Orchestra of Indianapolis. He can be heard on recordings on Albany, Capstone, Centaur, Innova, and Zephyr Records. As principal bassoonist of Sinfonia da Camera, Dr. Spaniol toured England, was broadcast on NPR's Performance Today, and appears on the Classical Music for Dummies CD. He has also performed with the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra, Indianapolis Chamber Orchestra, and the Columbus (Ohio) Symphony Orchestra. A Yamaha Performing Artist, Dr. Spaniol plays a Yamaha YFG-811 bassoon.