My Dream School, Bobby’s Juilliard Tuition.

Hello, my name is Robert (Bobby) Thompson, a young bassoonist from Ottawa, Canada and I will be pursuing  bassoon performance studies in the fall of 2020. I have the amazing and humbling opportunity to attend the Juilliard School in New York for my bachelor of bassoon performance. The bassoon is a long and heavy woodwind instrument that has been around since the baroque era, not something a lot of little kids want to explore. Vivaldi and Mozart did grow on me slowly though. I started bassoon around the age of 10, it was almost taller than me at that time. I was lucky enough to have private music lessons at that age, even though I barely understood what practice meant at the time. I was fortunate to have many people that helped me and supported my craft, I would not be where I am right now without the support of everyone around me. My supportive parents, passionate teachers, fellow young musicians, and amazing friends have all been the reason I’ve made it this far.


Juilliard is a big school I’ve looked up to, for its diverse artistic environment and its amazing world class faculty who have changed the way people look at the bassoon. I have been given a scholarship to help me pay part of the large tuition and fees to attend the school, tuition cost is $49,260 USD a year, my current remaining tuition and living expenses are not quite possible yet. The price of attending is the only thing allowing me, as well as many other young musicians from obtaining personal dreams and goals of attending some schools. My goal is to raise enough money to make Juilliard a possibility and to have an inspiring musical education. I wish to be a part of the next generation of great bassoonists and to influence the lives of young artists in the future. Down below I wrote an overview about how I went from a small kid in rural Ottawa, to having the chance to attend the very place I dreamed of studying at. Thank you for taking the time to read about my story and I’m extremely humbled to have this opportunity to share with everyone!


Ever since I was a little kid in Carp, Canada, I had known I was attached to the arts. I was never into sports and school was always a dominating part of my life but I knew I wanted to pursue the arts as a full time career. From drawing and painting, playing  the piano, and to finally landing on the bassoon. The bassoon looks and sometimes sounds like a farting bedpost, but when played by a professional, it can produce a rich, and powerful sound. I had decided to study this large and odd instrument, as I was attracted to the unknown and the mysterious world of classical music. I had studied bassoon privately in Ottawa with Jo Ann Simpson, starting at the Ottawa Youth Orchestra Academy, which gave me my first taste of orchestral and chamber group playing. Ms.Simpson gave me the tools I needed in order to not only succeed, but to grow and actually evaluate how I play and perform. She pushed me to work hard and to evaluate what proper practice meant, looking at each element of performing. She helped me audition and compete in the Kiwanis Music Festival every year, which motivated me but also gave me chances to perform. Another event that always pushed me as a player while growing up was the Brooke Valley Bassoon Days camp in Lanark, Ontario. Having returned to camp many times, it was the environment that harvested my bassoon playing and showed me the power of bassoonists in Canada and from around the world. There was where I first learned about masterclasses, and getting so many insightful ideas and techniques from an array of successful players who had made the bassoon a successful career.


From Huntley Centennial public elementary school in Carp, a place that embraced the arts, I auditioned and got into Canterbury High School for the arts in 2016. Though it meant taking a bus for 3 hours of the day, I was willing to do whatever to attend this arts school. There was the first place I experienced being in a passionate and thriving music environment every single day. My time at Canterbury showed me that I wanted to immerse myself in a musical environment everyday, but it also showed me that failure and challenges were opportunities to improve and grow. I then was introduced to Interlochen Center for the Arts in the United States and their 6 week summer camp from a fellow studio mate and personal idol in Ottawa. I auditioned and got into Interlochen summer camp 2019 and I was excited, as it was my first musical experience outside Canada and really showed me the diverse and different ways of music making in the U.S.



I thought I was a very good bassoonist walking into camp, but there I was met by a rude awakening. I was nowhere near the top of the amazing students at camp and it was the first time where I felt real loss and challenge in my playing. This feeling of being at the bottom honestly woke me up and forced me to re-evaluate my playing and from that moment, I vowed to pull apart and focus on improving my over all bassoon technique. I then decided to apply to the Interlochen Arts Academy for the 2019-2020 school year and received an 80% scholarship, as I wanted to experience that motivating and sometimes pressuring environment, as I fed off of that kind of pressure. Under the instruction of Dr. Eric Stomberg for my final year of high school at Interlochen, he exposed what I had learned in the past and added elements and fine tunings I needed in order to have successful college and university auditions. As a Canadian bassoonist, I applied for both Canadian and American schools, but I had my eye set on the legendary Juilliard School in New York City. That same idol from Ottawa who convinced me to go to Interlochen was studying bassoon performance at Juilliard, and I saw and heard that she was thriving as an Canadian bassoonist at the school. My parents allowed me to audition wherever I wished and the schools in cities such as Toronto and New York were on my bucket list as the teachers there were passionate and influential figures in the classical music world.


I wish I could say I was accepted to Juilliard on the spot but that’s not true, I was waitlisted at first and did not know what to expect. I waited patiently while all my peers were being accepted to excellent schools but I was honestly surprised and excited to hear there was an opening. I really didn’t believe that a kid from rural Ottawa could make his goals and dreams come true, all thanks to the amazing people that believed in me and supported me. I hope this paints the story of my education and journey a little bit better and how I came from a small rural public school to having the chance to go to Juilliard . Again, I am humbled by this amazing opportunity and grateful for the amazing people that have made this a reality for me. It would mean the world to have a great musical education and to be able to touch at least one person with my music. Any help and exposure about my story would be monumental to my future and goals as a bassoonist!
Thank you for your time and consideration!

Robert Thompson (Bobby)