Double Reed Day at Butler University

Doug Spaniol, Professor of Bassoon

Doug Spaniol is Professor of Bassoon at Butler University where he was a 2022 recipient of the Distinguished Faculty Award, the “highest accolade a Butler faculty member can achieve.” In the summers he serves as Instructor of Bassoon at Interlochen Arts Camp. His instructional book for bassoonists, The New Weissenborn Method for Bassoon (Hal Leonard), has been called “a must for all your beginning students” (The Double Reed) and “an invaluable addition to bassoon literature…a landmark in pedagogy” (Double Reed News).

Dr. Spaniol has appeared as soloist with Sinfonia da Camera, the St. Petersburg Classical Symphony Orchestra, Solisti St. Petersburg, the Central Ohio Symphony Orchestra, and the Philharmonic Orchestra of Indianapolis. He has recorded for Albany, Capstone, Centaur, Innova, and Zephyr Records. He served as principal bassoonist of Sinfonia da Camera for eleven seasons and has performed with the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra, Indianapolis Chamber Orchestra, and the Columbus (Ohio) Symphony Orchestra. He is a founding member of Rock E Bassoon – “The World’s Most Dangerous Bassoon Band.” He has also performed with The Rolling Stones, Art Garfunkel, Sandi Patty, and Michael Feinstein.

Dr. Spaniol has presented masterclasses and workshops at the Royal Academy of Music (London), Royal Welsh College of Music & Drama (Cardiff), the St. Petersburg (Russia) Conservatory, and many others. Dr. Spaniol has been named both a Fulbright Scholar and a Marshall Scholar and has received degrees from the University of Illinois, the Royal Northern College of Music, and The Ohio State University. Dr. Spaniol is a Yamaha Performing Artist and plays a Yamaha YFG-811 bassoon

Pam Ajango, Instructor of Oboe

Pamela Ajango is the Instructor of Oboe at Butler University and a member of the Indianapolis Chamber Orchestra. She regularly performs for Broadway Across America, the Indianapolis Opera, as a top-call recording artist (Disney on Ice, Hal Leonard, Alfred, RSM, commercials), and as a chamber musician and soloist. She has been a substitute musician with the Indianapolis Symphony since 2003. Pam’s career began as a freelancer in New York City playing with many of the area’s top ensembles, on Broadway (Ragtime, Cats, and Les Misérables), and in recording studios. She has taught at UIndy and Anderson University, summer music festivals at Butler, Indiana University, Saarburg Germany, and InterHarmony in Italy, and presented many guest masterclasses. Pam studied with Malcolm Smith, Ralph Gomberg, Joseph Robinson, and Stephen Taylor, receiving her performance degrees from Boston University and the Manhattan School of Music. She co-hosted the IDRS Conference in 2025. Pam is a Laubin artist.

Claire Taylor, Bassoon

Claire Taylor embodies the diverse talent and entrepreneurial spirit needed to make a living in today’s music world.   Besides teaching bassoon and coaching ensembles for Millikin University, she teaches band for Decatur Public Schools, serves as Music Director for First Presbyterian Church, owns and operates Claire Taylor Woodwind Repair, and is an active performer throughout Central Illinois.  She is Principal Bassoon of the Millikin-Decatur Symphony and Heartland Festival Orchestras, Second Bassoon of the Champaign-Urbana Symphony Orchestra, and regularly plays with several other area orchestras.  Also an accomplished jazz musician and woodwind doubler, Professor Taylor was a saxophonist for Celebrity Cruise Lines and has appeared in the pit of the national tour of Chicago as well as with jazz and rock groups including her own, the CT Jazz.  She holds degrees from Butler University and the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

Dr. Abby Yeakle Held, Oboe

Dr. Abby Yeakle Held serves as the oboe professor at The Ohio State University where she was appointed in 2021. Prior to this, Dr. Held served as Adjunct Professor of Oboe at Stephen F. Austin State University.

As a performer, Held served as Associate Principal Oboe of the West Texas Symphony from 2017-2023 and has appeared with orchestras across the USA including the Columbus Symphony, Dayton Philharmonic, Colorado Symphony, and the Castleton Festival. Held has performed internationally in Austria and Belgium, including a recital at the United States Embassy in Vienna, Austria.

Dr. Held is also recognized for her unique research. As a Fulbright Scholar, Dr. Held studied the Viennese oboe, its history, traditions, current state, and cross-application to the French conservatory oboist. She is the first to publish on the topic in English, making her one of the foremost scholars on the Viennese oboe outside of the instrument’s community.

Coming soon!