Entertainment - Entertainment News

POSTED: Wednesday, Dec. 03, 2008

Martin Kuuskmann: Musician shares his talent with the world, but relishes quiet life in Blaine

Blaine may seem an unlikely place for a world-renowned bassoonist, someone born and reared in Estonia during the Communist era and educated at Ivy League music schools. But between concert tours and twice-monthly teaching gigs in New York City, Martin Kuuskmann relishes returning to his wife and three small children in the quiet seaside city he now calls home.

When he's not traveling, he gives private music lessons on piano, clarinet and other woodwind instruments. Born in Tallinn, Estonia, Kuuskmann received a bachelor's degree in music from the Manhattan School of Music and master's degree from the Yale University School of Music. He and his family moved to Blaine in 2003 to be closer to his wife's family in Vancouver, B.C.

Here is his story, in his own words:

"A tuba player told me when I was 16 to play the bassoon, 'because you are tall enough and Estonia doesn't have enough bassoon players.' Four years later I was playing the bassoon, but I was playing in America.

"I love the West Coast. I grew up in Estonia and Tallinn is right on the sea. I love the fact that I am right near water and the mountains. I love the serenity and the calmness. And I like the people here. It is a very nice lifestyle. My life is crazy with all the travel. I see the big city life all the time. So to me the last place I want to live is in a big city.

"I teach here privately. I like to share what I know. It doesn't matter what level they are. I have some clarinet students, some woodwind students. I think it is important that kids know music, whether they become a musician or not. I have students ranging from age 6 to very accomplished students from Austria who already have their master's (degrees). The challenge is to keep it interesting. To keep it fun.

"The bassoon is challenging. I find new things about it constantly. It's an undiscovered instrument. Bassoonists themselves don't know what the bassoon is capable of. I'm doing a solo career that very, very, very few bassoonists are doing. It is not known as a solo instrument. Anything so far that's been thrown at me I can execute. And some of it is completely out there. Nothing like this has ever been written before. It's just exploring the possibilities of this instrument.”

"Estonia was very progressive compared to the other countries in the Soviet Union. We had the window to the West. I saw the Soviet regime and I can now talk about it. It was bloody awful. There was always someone with you from the Minister of Culture. You were always watched.

"I met my wife in 1989. I was 18, my wife was 17. I met her after a concert in Vancouver. I saw her talking on the phone and I got a shiver through me. I got a second look and I winked. We later met in the lobby. We hung out for three nights. And I later thought, 'this is the girl I want to marry.' But she was living in Vancouver and I was in Estonia. Seven years later we saw each other in Estonia. We were married 10 months later (in 1996). With the birth of my children, that is the greatest moment of my life.

"Everything from that point, the great concerts I've done, the Grammy nominations, the concerts with the New York Philharmonic: these are all great, but really it's the relationship with my wife and my family that make me have a great career and enjoy what I do. I draw my inspiration from my family and from the love within the family. Great things have come from it."