Sean Gordon, contrabassoon and bassoon

***Seasons with BSO: >1

***Hometown: Darnestown, MD, currently live in Rockville as my wife works in DC

***Age Started: I started bassoon at 12, and before that clarinet at 9. I bought my contrabassoon in 2017, when I was 26, but first started playing it college and grad school.

***Pets: One midsized dog, Sammy, and a fluffy orange and cream cat whose official name is Fried Tofu.

***Favorite Composer or two: The juxtaposition of horror and humor in Shostakovich moves me more than any other composer, while Mozart is probably the most satisfying composer for me to listen to if I don’t want to get too into my feelings.

***Favorite Non-Musical Activity: Before joining the BSO, I was working and training as a bassoon repair specialist in addition to freelancing. I’ve put that mostly on hold for now but hope to get back in to it on a part time basis once I get settled into my job.

***Favorite Food: I think the one food that I’ll never say no to is dumplings.

***Earliest BSO Concerts: Between my trial week and my first concert, I played the two biggest contrabassoon solos in the orchestral repertoire- Ravel’s Mother Goose and his Piano Concerto for the Left Hand this past fall.

***Concert this Season You’re Most Excited About: I love Prokofiev’s 5th Symphony and am very excited to play Shostakovich’s 10th in June. They’re both incredibly colorful and emotional pieces of music and both have rich and involved contrabassoon parts- especially the Shostakovich! Mahler 5 this week is also an exciting and daunting project.

***Fondest Musical Memory: Those aforementioned Ravel weeks when I first joined the BSO this fall are up there! On top of being some of the most musically satisfying concerts of my career, my new colleagues were extremely welcoming and supportive. I am very grateful to be in this orchestra both in terms of musicality and collegiality.