Sophie Mathieu
Rootsong (for Bassoon and Electronics)
New work by Sophie Mathieu
Lead commissioner: Tucker Van Gundy
Duration: 6-8 minutes
Buy-in: $50 (student rate), $100 (professional rate) -- due by 2/1/2027
Delivery: Pdf Score, Electronics Files, Performance Guide (February 2027)
Consortium exclusivity: Exclusivity through 12/31/2027
To register: https://forms.gle/NYctw77rEe4xawud8
Questions?
Contact Tucker: tuckervangundy@gmail.com
Contact Sophie: sophiecomposer@gmail.com
Through this project, we hope to contribute a new kind of work to the bassoon and fixed media repertoire. This accessible and beautiful piece is inspired by ambient music and acoustic ecology, utilizing field recordings taken in the northeastern United States. We imagine the bassoonist as a singer, weaving melody in and around a vast soundworld. This work is approachable and rewarding for a wide range of performers, from college students to seasoned professionals.
At the heart of the piece is our fascination with old-growth forests. Also known as primeval forests, these rare ecosystems are shaped by centuries of uninterrupted growth and renewal. They contain trees at every stage of life, from young saplings to towering elders to fallen trunks returning nutrients to the soil. They are environments of extraordinary complexity and resilience. Those who spend time in these forests often describe an experience that feels tranquil and profound. Their immense scale, textual density, and subtle transformations contribute to a sense of wonder and quiet vitality, which serves as the central inspiration for the work.
Old-growth forests are never static. They exist in a continual process of change. The slow cycles of growth, decay, regeneration, and adaptation nourish the entire ecosystem. What may appear still from a distance is, upon closer attention, in a constant state of movement. We find a meaningful parallel between these natural processes and the development of musicianship. Musicians build complex relationships with their instruments through slow and consistent work. Daily bodily connection forges ever-branching networks of neurons, enabling us to build first fluency, then confidence, then expressive potential. It is through slow growth, old growth, that we spread our roots and build an ecosystem. In this piece, we celebrate this connection, with the wooden bassoon itself serving as a channel linking the music of humans to the music of nature.
If you’re looking to explore the natural world through performance and add a work with fixed media to your repertoire, then this piece is for you!
Through this project, we hope to contribute a new kind of work to the bassoon and fixed media repertoire. This accessible and beautiful piece is inspired by ambient music and acoustic ecology, utilizing field recordings taken in the northeastern United States. We imagine the bassoonist as a singer, weaving melody in and around a vast soundworld. This work is approachable and rewarding for a wide range of performers, from college students to seasoned professionals.
At the heart of the piece is our fascination with old-growth forests. Also known as primeval forests, these rare ecosystems are shaped by centuries of uninterrupted growth and renewal. They contain trees at every stage of life, from young saplings to towering elders to fallen trunks returning nutrients to the soil. They are environments of extraordinary complexity and resilience. Those who spend time in these forests often describe an experience that feels tranquil and profound. Their immense scale, textual density, and subtle transformations contribute to a sense of wonder and quiet vitality, which serves as the central inspiration for the work.
Old-growth forests are never static. They exist in a continual process of change. The slow cycles of growth, decay, regeneration, and adaptation nourish the entire ecosystem. What may appear still from a distance is, upon closer attention, in a constant state of movement. We find a meaningful parallel between these natural processes and the development of musicianship. Musicians build complex relationships with their instruments through slow and consistent work. Daily bodily connection forges ever-branching networks of neurons, enabling us to build first fluency, then confidence, then expressive potential. It is through slow growth, old growth, that we spread our roots and build an ecosystem. In this piece, we celebrate this connection, with the wooden bassoon itself serving as a channel linking the music of humans to the music of nature.
If you’re looking to explore the natural world through performance and add a work with fixed media to your repertoire, then this piece is for you!
This project is designed to be as accessible and performer-friendly as possible, offering multiple playback options to match different levels of technical comfort. Performers can use a traditional click track and backing track setup through professional software (such as Qlabs or Ableton Live), a simple two-device setup that requires no specialized software, or a custom visual click track that synchronizes the electronics with clear on-screen cues and rehearsal markers. These flexible options will allow you to perform this work in a variety of settings in whichever way feels most comfortable, all while achieving a polished and reliable outcome. As part of this joining of this consortium, you will receive a comprehensive Performance Guide that describes all three methods in detail. Additionally, you’ll receive continued tech support from Sophie and Tucker.
About the Artists
Bassoonist Tucker Van Gundy is a current doctoral student at the University of Texas at Austin’s Butler School of Music, where he studies with Kristin Wolfe Jensen. He also completed an undergraduate degree at UT Austin, as well as an MM from the Yale School of Music, studying under Frank Morelli. In recent years, he has been a fellow at the Norfolk Chamber Music Festival, Sarasota Music Festival, and Round Top Festival Institute.
Tucker is a founding member of Cover to Cover Wind Quintet, an Austin-based collective dedicated to creating accessible and engaging performances utilizing thoughtful multimedia elements. Past programs include Critter City: a musical choose-your-own-adventure story, a children’s singalong, a visually enhanced production of Peter and the Wolf, and collaborations with Justice Phillips, Lawrie Bird, and Tetractys New Music. The quintet regularly performs in venues across Austin, including KMFA 89.5’s Draylen Mason Music Studio, Radio/East, The Rosette, Dell Medical Center, Batch, and Community First! Village.
With Kristin Wolfe Jensen, Tucker co-authored the second edition of Music and the Bassoon, a free online method for bassoonists of all ages. Through hundreds of exercises, audio recordings, videos, lesson plans, and indexed resources, this project seeks to be a comprehensive bassoon resource for all.
Currently, Tucker is the Teaching Assistant for the UT Austin bassoon studio, where he teaches undergraduate lessons, leads reed class, and assists with administrative tasks. He also maintains a private bassoon studio and freelances in the greater Austin area. Tucker aspires to continue teaching at the university level and foster a studio of well-rounded, creative musicians.
Sophie Mathieu is a composer and cellist based in Austin, TX. She specializes in creating ambient, ethereal, and immersive works about vast, expansive places in the natural world. Her music has won her numerous awards, including her orchestral work, moons, which received an ASCAP Morton Gould award. Sophie has collaborated with ensembles across the US, including Alarm Will Sound and yMusic. She was the 2024 Draylen Mason Composer in Residence at KMFA Classical 89.5, Austin’s classical music radio station, and was also named the “Best Classical Musician” in Austin in 2024.
As a performer, Sophie eagerly engages with any type of music making that is hands-on and fun. She is passionate about the (small but mighty) new music scene in Austin and appears regularly with Density512. During her time pursuing a masters in composition at the University of Texas, she served as the principal cellist of UT New Music Ensemble and the director of the CLUTCH concert series, a series of performances showcasing works composed by students.
Sophie is a member of the Austin-based queer folk band Middle Sattre. She also loves early music and studied baroque cello and viola da gamba during her undergraduate studies, receiving the Colburn Scholarship in Early Music Performance for her work with USC’s Baroque Sinfonia. She is also an amateur choral singer and enjoys singing in the Austin-based choir Panoramic Voices.
In addition to her recently completed masters in composition at UT Austin’s Butler School of Music, Sophie completed her undergraduate studies in composition at the University of Southern California. Her primary teachers include Ted Hearne, Andrew Norman, Alyssa Weinberg, Omar Thomas, and Yevgeniy Sharlat.
Outside of music, Sophie enjoys cooking vegan food and playing Sid Meier's Civilization VII in her free time.