A passion for the bassoon means full ride for C-Falls graduate

Natalie Law remembers her first piano lesson. She was four years old and had been playing on the family piano since she was a toddler, making up her own songs. Her parents wanted her to learn the right way, so they took her to lessons.

“I was unhappy about it,” she recalled.

But those lessons and a life of music have proven fruitful. The Columbia Falls senior is heading to the University of Montana-Missoula on a full scholarship to study music, including the piano and another far more eclectic instrument — the bassoon.

Law started playing the bassoon in junior high after music teacher Joe Knadler suggested the instrument to her. She was getting bored with other instruments. A bassoon is an odd looking instrument. It’s long and big and made of wood and has a wide range of tones.

“It has no sound like anything else,” she said.

It’s also expensive. An “amateur” model costs $7,000. A professional model runs from $20,000 to $30,000. The bassoon is considered an antique instrument, she said. Unlike other instruments, its design holds true to the same form it had 200 years ago.

Most people have probably heard a bassoon but not realized it. Igor Stravinsky’s “Rite of Spring” opens with a bassoon and is known for its difficulty.

“It’s a killer for bassoonists,” Law said.

Law splits her time between playing piano and bassoon. She has played bassoon for the Glacier Symphony and Chorale since 2010 and was recently awarded a scholarship by the symphony to pursue her studies.

She enjoys playing a wide range of music, from classical to jazz piano and admires pianists like Dave Brubeck and Gil Evans and classical composer Beethoven.

After undergraduate studies, Law said, she may pursue an advanced degree at a music school, but she isn’t sure yet.

Law also writes music and would like to be a professional composer or play in a symphony at some point. Right now, she’s focused on her studies. She has a weighted grade point average of 4.2. Her father, Joe, is a retired accountant who now drives school bus and her mother, Linda, is a physician in Kalispell.

Law also auditioned at the University of Oregon, where she played piano in a large recital hall.

“I played the best I’ve ever played in my life,” she said.

Oregon also offered her scholarships, but they didn’t cover the entire cost of college, she said, so she chose UM.

Graduation ceremonies will take place on Saturday at 11 a.m. in the Columbia Falls High School gymnasium.