Victoria Long
Principal Bassoon
Joined
March 2016
Building a music-filled life: Victoria Long
Ever since fifth grade, Victoria Long knew that she wanted music to be a part of her life.
An instrument and career change later, the now elementary school general music teacher and principal bassoonist of the Lakeview Orchestra continues to build on those early experiences while instilling them in others.
“My goal isn’t to make little professional musicians,” Victoria explained. “it’s to help students find the joy in music.”
Victoria started her career as so many middle schoolers do, playing the saxophone. She didn’t discover the bassoon until college at Northern Illinois University when she auditioned for ensembles as a non-music major and was gently steered towards an instrument change.
“Growing up, there wasn’t an orchestra program at my school,” Victoria explained. “When I auditioned in college it was suggested that I give the bassoon a try. So I took a summer to learn and then played in everything for the rest of my time there. The rest is history.”
After a year teaching high school, NIU once again came calling; this time with an offer for Victoria to teach double reed techniques and music education, study with a new teacher, and obtain her master's degree. A connection she made there would also indirectly lead to her now eight-year tenure with the Lakeview Orchestra.
“One of the players I met in the Wheaton Municipal Band told me about Lakeview Orchestra and I subbed for an entire season.” Victoria recalled. “After that, I found out they were looking for a full-time bassoonist and Greg [Hughes] invited me to join as a permanent member. It’s a place where people come to play together and have fun doing it. Not everyone is a professional musician, but it doesn’t diminish the music or take away from it in any way. In fact, it makes it a better experience to know that everyone is there to work hard and create the best music that we can.”
Victoria is quick to point out that while other woodwinds like flute and clarinet tend to get featured more, the bassoon has great versatility, able to go from a dark, warm sound to bright and reedy. In other words, just because it looks large and low, don’t count it out for being lyrical.
That timbre and versatility will be on full display later this month when Victoria joins fellow NIU graduate and Lakeview Orchestra principal clarinet Richard Zili for Strauss’ Duet Concertino. Whether it’s seen as a programmatic work along the lines of a Hans Christian Andersen story – spoiler, the clarinet is the princess, the bassoon is a pig farmer trying to get closer to her – or beautiful melodies intertwined in a modern way, Victoria enjoyed the process of learning and listening with a collaborator.
“While I was studying the piece, I’ve been very conscious that there’s another person also playing a solo,” Victoria admitted. “Working through the different sections, lining up our parts, understanding how the orchestra fits in, it makes you very aware that you can’t just do what you want. It makes you listen and practice in a very different way.”
When she isn’t preparing lesson plans or practicing for the upcoming concert, Victoria enjoys teaching her dog Louise tricks – they were on TV not long ago – and her faithful pooch will often take a nap near where she practices. Victoria also lifts at a local gym where she has been training for a few years and relaxes by reading at different coffee shops. If you’re curious: oat milk latte.
“What I want my students to learn from me is that you don’t have to be perfect,” Victoria explained. “Life should be fun. If you’re good at something, great. And if you’re not, who cares? And what does good at it even mean? Professional musicians are always practicing and no one is ever 100% right. We all have something to work on.”
By Jeffrey Levine
