Named Instrumentalist of the Year 2020 by Just Plain Folks, NADINA MACKIE JACKSON is the most widely recorded Canadian bassoonist in history with 12 solo albums, 8 chamber music recordings and dozens of albums with symphony, chamber and historical instrument orchestras.
A true communicator, confidently venturing into new works, venues and collaborations, joining forces with emerging and established composers, performers and thinkers, sharing her joy and continual sense of discovery with audiences.
18 new works for solo bassoon and orchestra were written for her in the last decade and she sees great importance in continually commissioning new composers to expand the voice of the bassoon
Recent solo recordings include Vivaldi Concerti Volume I, winner of Best Classical Album 2020 from Just Plain Folks and the Juno short-listed Canadian Concerto Project with group of twenty-seven chamber orchestra.
Performing with folk legend Valdy and other virtuoso musicians and orchestras, Nadina has toured extensively across Canada, the US, to Europe and Japan.
Ever mindful of the challenges faced by young bassoonists, Nadina is the president of The Council of Canadian Bassoonists – a nationally registered charitable status group dedicated to furthering education through study and appreciation of the bassoon.
After decades with Canada’s top music schools, Nadina teaches widely as a master class artist and recently published SOLITARY REFINEMENT, Chromatics, Chords & Scales, Concepts for the Committed Bassoonist (Friesen Press).
Also a visual artist, Nadina has shown regularly in the past 20 years, selling to private collectors, designing album covers and creating original displays for Toronto storefronts.
Nadina is currently illustrating Christopher Millard’s online reedmaking blog for the Council of Canadian Bassoonists.Nadina’s next big art project is to finish the remaining 13 paintings in the series of 24 painting for Darwood’s Wild Bassoon. Current art is a series of small works on recycled cardstock.
“Not normally a classical fan, but when a friend receives Instrumentalist of the Year, I had to give it a listen. This sounds beautiful and energizing. The Bassoon has never sounded so beautiful!”Matt Davidson, Log Builder and Vice President of the International Log Builders Association [FaceBook comment, December 31. 2020]
“Virtuosic playing to the end drew the crowd to its feet and a chance to meet their Bassoon Heroine at intermission…”Classic Concerts NS [September 2016]
“…Mackie Jackson tossed off rapid-fire runs during the short work’s first movement before displaying her gorgeous singing tone and lightly executed ornamentation in the second …”Holly Harris, Winnipeg Free Press, Manitoba Chamber Orchestra, Westminster United Church [March 12, 2014
“With its top-notch soloist [Nadina Mackie Jackson] paired with some of the best baroque … players in North America … easily one of the finest recordings of Vivaldi on modern instruments out there.”IDRS Journal, Issue 36:1, [July 2013]
“unalloyed delight, played with breathtaking virtuosity and an irresistible verve and sparkle by Nadina Mackie Jackson and her seven cohorts…. Fasten your seatbelts.”George Chien, Issue 36:6, Fanfare [July/Aug 2013]
“When Canadian bassoonist Nadina Mackie Jackson begins to play, the logic is revealed: she and McGegan turn these concertos into pure virtuoso vehicles”
James Manheim, AllMusic [July, 2013]
Updated January 2021