Though it has recently ended, the podcast Double Reed Dish has shaped more than a few of my recent compositions, and every episode has been an opportunity to get to know an artist and, more importantly for a non-double reed playing composer, encounter a glimpse into their artistic vision. When I first listened to the episode featuring Susan Nelson, I walked away with a seed planted to write a work for bassoon and percussion.
I finally met Susan Nelson at the 2025 Meg Quigley Symposium, where she presented a talk on commissioning composers and bought the score for one of my works (Bonus Round). Though we didn’t get the opportunity to chat at Meg Quigley about what we could make together, I found my brain swimming with ideas for bassoon and percussion, and I couldn’t help but explore one of those sound worlds.
As composers, we need more collaborators and allies like Susan Nelson. And that’s why I wrote her Show and Tell.