"I always wanted to be a professional bassoonist, but I also wanted the rigor, depth and discipline of a college education that one could get only at a place like MIT," says John Miller (SB 1964), principal bassoon for the Minnesota Orchestra, who returns to campus for a concert on Sunday, Oct. 31 with the Neo Bubonic Bassoon Quartet.
As a student, Mr. Miller says he "eagerly sought the MIT experience, studying as much acoustics as possible so that I could work in a scientific field related to music in case I did not make it as a musician." The quartet -- a successor to the humorous Bubonic and Buddhist Bassoon Ensembles that were active in Boston in the '60s and '70s, respectively -- features Per Hannevold (principal bassoon, Bergen Philharmonic), Mr. Miller, Norbert Nielubowski (contrabassoon, Minnesota Orchestra) and Robert Williams (principal bassoon, Detroit Symphony). The free concert is at 3pm in Killian Hall.
A version of this article appeared in MIT Tech Talk on October 27, 1999.
