Viking Bassoon Ensemble (ViBE)

The Viking Bassoon Ensemble, universally known as ViBE, is the brainchild of bassoon professor Carl Rath to supplement the teaching of bassoon. The ensemble, based off the Sooner Bassooners (University of Oklahoma), another of Rath's creations, emphasizes an eclectic approach to music performance through the performance of original compositions for bassoon ensemble as well as arrangements of popular and classical music. Each term the ViBE performs a concert on campus. Recent concert themes have included A Tribute to the Bubonic Bassoon Quartet (with guest artist John Miller), American Musical Theatre, Dark Side of the Reed, Rock Opera, Classical ViBE, Dance the Night Away, Der Fagottknacker, and Movies, Television, & Cartoons!

The challenging arrangements allow for more exposure to diverse performance styles, varieties of articulation, tone development, intonation and balance, as well as incorporating the non-bassoon talents of individual members.

Some of the arrangements performed on these programs include:
  • Abbey Road, The Beatles ('White Album'), Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band
  • BOND!, West Side Story, American Idiot, Phantom of the Opera, Tommy, Dark Side of the Moon
  • Finlandia, Emperor Waltz, Firebird, March to the Scaffold, Nutcracker Suite, Trumpet!
  • Songs made famous by The Beatles, Queen, Iron Butterfly, The Knack, Radiohead, Eric Clapton, Led Zeppelin, Beach Boys, Chicago, Santana, Lady Gaga, Tower of Power, Justin Timberlake, David Bowie, Herb Alpert, etc.