My story begins on a pig farm 13 km north of Edmonton, Alberta in the hamlet of Namao. Public schools in Namao had music programs starting from Grade 6 and I couldn't wait to pick an instrument! After attempts to play flute, trumpet and euphonium, I was guided to the bassoon. I immediately fell in love with it. I was lucky to win an audition for a position in the Edmonton Youth Orchestra (EYO) under the baton of Maestro Michael Massey. EYO members were required to be ushers at Edmonton's Jubilee Auditorium. This was where I saw the Montreal Symphony Orchestra (OSM) and Maestro Charles Dutoit perform Mahler's First Symphony. I had never seen this piece performed and I was struck by the orchestra's sound. Right then I decided I simply HAD to study in Montreal!
McGill was the only university I applied to. I knew that by being in Montreal, I would get the best music degree in Canada. I was right. I studied with members of the Montreal Symphony both as a private student and as a chamber/orchestra member. These collaborations set the bar high for me going forward.
I lived and studied alongside students who had much the same dreams as I did. We supported and motivated each other. We went to OSM concerts every week, and sometimes twice a week. While I was at McGill, the McGill Symphony went to Carnegie Hall in New York City and played Mahler's First Symphony. This was a performance I will never forget – full circle you could say.
I made lifelong friends with fellow McGill students who went on to have fabulous music careers: Karen Donnelly, MMus’91 (principal trumpet of the National Arts Centre Orchestra in Ottawa); Jens Lindemann, BMus’88 (international trumpet soloist and former member of the Canadian Brass); Andrei Malashenko, LMus’90 (principal timpanist of the OSM), to mention only a few. My brother Jeff Nelsen (Canadian Brass, and horn professor at Indiana University) followed me to McGill and has had an illustrious career as well.
McGill made me a better bassoonist, musician and colleague. I have brought what I experienced and learned at McGill with me from my first professional paid gig, to my first dream job with the Montreal Symphony, and then on to my second dream job with the Boston Symphony where I have been playing for 20 years.
Credit for photo at top of page: Marco Borggreve