What use is a bassoon? “We hold the whole thing together. Aside from holding up the bottom of the four main woodwind instruments, we modify our colors, and in the process, suddenly it’s not a flute and a bassoon, it’s a ‘flassoon.’ And the combination of clarinet and bassoon is a ‘bassinet.’ The same thing with the oboe. It’s our job to make these instruments into something altogether different. A good bassoon player has to have an ear for color and has to be a good ensemble player.”