Tonight on "From the Butler School" on KMFA 88.9 FM, we showcase the talented Oboe and Bassoon Faculty and Students.

The Presser Foundation awarded two Butler School students, Khalil Gray (M.M. | Bassoon Performance) and Ariana Chan (B.A. | Oboe) two of their annual grants.

Understanding the importance of playing with other musicians, Professor of Bassoon Kristin Wolfe Jensen resolved to find a way for her students to play together safely after the pandemic hit in spring 2020. That's how she came up with the October Bassoon Ensemble Festival. Her students put on a physically distanced live performance at Mueller Park, just a few minutes north of UT Austin's campus, to the delight of anyone in the park that day willing to watch and listen.

Jensen and her students had so much fun it's now an annual tradition! "At the end of the day, music is just about connecting with other people," said Quincey Trojanowski, a junior in bassoon performance who played in this year's performance. 

At a time when so much of the world has been put on pause, the 2020 Rainwater Innovation Grant projects show us just how unstoppable creative energy is.

Current student and alum news!