Michael Sweeney

Michael Sweeney has served as principal bassoonist of the Toronto Symphony Orchestra (TSO) since 1989. Over the years, his playing has frequently been singled out for praise by reviewers, who have described it as “soulful” (The Globe and Mail) and “full of imagination and character” (National Post).

As a soloist, Michael is most interested in early and postminimalist music. He has performed the concertos and concertante works of Vivaldi, Mozart, Haydn, and Strauss, the Canadian composers Marjan Mozetich, Rodney Sharman, and Rudolf Komorous, and American composer Michael Welsh.

Among other chamber music collaborations, Michael has performed the piano quintets of Mozart and Beethoven with pianists Emmanuel Ax, Patricia Parr, Angela Hewitt, and Ingrid Fliter, and was a founding member of The Caliban Quartet of Bassoonists. He is a frequent guest of the Amici and Via Salzburg chamber ensembles.

In addition to performing, Michael is interested in music history, especially Mozart studies. His musicological activities have included preparing a performing edition for the TSO of instrumental excerpts from Jean-Philippe Rameau's last opera, and he is working on the commentary to his recent critical/performing edition of Mozart's Concerto for Bassoon.

Prior to joining the TSO, Michael studied with Kay Brightman, Norman Herzberg, and Arthur Weisberg at state universities in California and New York, the University of Southern California, and the Yale School of Music, where he also studied musicianship with Joan Panetti. Between his university years and joining the TSO, Michael was the principal bassoonist of the South Dakota Symphony Orchestra.

Michael performs exclusively on a custom-made Heckel bassoon that features a number of mechanical innovations of his own conception and design, realized by Heckel, Canadian master instrument maker Benson Bell, and artist instrument technicians Frank Marcus and Shane Wieler.

You can email Michael at michael@michaelsweeney.com