The premiere of Andrew Schultz’s new Bassoon Concerto, performed by bassoonist Jane Kircher-Lindner with the West Australian Symphony Orchestra conducted by Asher Fisch in their Symphonic Titans program at the Perth Concert Hall on Friday 2 June and Saturday 3 June 2023. An “ecstatically buoyant solo part which Jane Kircher-Lindner despatched with consummate fluency and dynamism” (Limelight), with “Kircher-Lindner progressing like a Disney princess in an enchanted forest” (The West Australian), in such an “attractive and original work that deserves to become a part of the standard repertoire” (Limelight).
Bassoon Concerto is a three-movement work for solo bassoon and full orchestra with a duration of about 21 minutes. The work was commissioned for the West Australian Symphony Orchestra by Geoff Stearn and written in very close collaboration with the orchestra’s Principal Bassoon and the soloist in the work’s premiere, Jane Kircher-Lindner. Bassoon Concerto was written in the second half of 2022 during which time Andrew was the Gough Whitlam and Malcolm Fraser Visiting Professor of Australian Studies in the Music Department at Harvard University and living in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
UPDATE, JULY 2024: Jane’s performance of the Schultz Bassoon Concerto with WASO/Asher Fisch was a Finalist in the Art Music Awards in the Best Performance in 2023 Category.
Jane Kircher-Lindner (photo credit: WASO by Daniel Grant)
Jane Kircher-Lindner was originally from Christchurch, New Zealand. She moved to Perth in 2006 to take up the Principal Bassoon position with WASO. Prior to this she was Principal Bassoon with the Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra from 2003-2006. She has also performed with the Melbourne, Queensland and New Zealand Symphony Orchestras.
Jane has appeared three times as a soloist with WASO, most recently in 2022 performing Haydn’s Sinfonia Concertante. She also performs with a variety of chamber ensembles and has recorded for ABC Classic FM. In demand as a teacher, she teaches bassoon at the University of Western Australia and the West Australian Academy of Performing Arts.
Jane completed her undergraduate studies at Victoria University of Wellington. After receiving several prestigious scholarships, she continued her post-graduate studies at the Manhattan School of Music in New York, where she graduated with a Master of Music in Orchestral Performance. Her teachers in New York included Whitney Crockett and Patricia Rogers (Metropolitan Opera Orchestra) and Frank Morelli (Orpheus Chamber Orchestra).
To read WASO’s SOUNDS & STORIES discussion of the creation of the work, click here to download a PDF.
To read the LIMELIGHT MAGAZINE article about the Bassoon Concerto, click here.
To read a review of the premiere performance in LIMELIGHT MAGAZINE, click here.
To read another review of the premiere performance in THE WEST AUSTRALIAN, click here.
To read ‘THE RIGHT NOTE’ – a background article by the composer – in Resonate Magazine, click here.
And to read the program note for Bassoon Concerto on this website, click here.
Jane Kircher-Lindner and Andrew Schultz on-stage with WASO (photo credit: Gavin Fernie, ABC)
Recording from the premiere
Andrew Schultz – Bassoon Concerto
Jane Kircher-Lindner and WASO conducted by Asher Fisch, Perth Concert Hall, June 2023, live premiere performance. ABC Recording.
© This recording is copyright and is intended for private listening use only. It may not be broadcast or distributed without permission.
Further listening
The second movement of the Bassoon Concerto and the complete Symphony No. 4 (2025) can be heard on-line in an interview with the composer in the December 2025, 100% Australian Made podcast from presenter Julie Simonds at 2MBS-FM Fine Music Sydney. Click here to listen at this link.