The Bassoon in the Bushes

Beethoven could have composed Fur Elise, but he could never photoshop himself climbing on the side of Burns Tower. Who has accomplished that feat? Look no further than Ealaph Tabbaa, Music Performance, ‘23, as he promotes his art form of the bassoon through another art form: graphic design. 

As Tabbaa prepared for his junior recital, he promoted this event through various photos of him: hiding in the bushes, as Homer Simpson hiding in bushes, hiding in the bushes again, as a Five Nights at Freddy’s character, on the side of Burns Tower, and more. Read on to see the making of these legendary photos.

Chelsea Igtanloc (CI): How did you come up with your poster ideas?

Ealaph Tabbaa (ET): I mainly had the mindset to make what I thought was funny or would grab my attention. Everyone has seen pretty and professional posters, so why not make something strange. I also had some help from a few friends along the way like on the Simpsons and Burns tower ones.

CI: How do these pictures describe yourself?

ET: I don't try to take myself too seriously and I think the pictures show that pretty well. Classical music tends to take itself really seriously, and I wanted to make it fun. I still took the music really seriously but not the advertising.

CI: How has the reception been from people who have seen them?

ET: People loved it. I got so many replies to my stories of friends telling me how hyped they were for the recital. People were stopping me around campus telling me how much they loved the posters. I think I can confidently attribute a good amount of the audience attendance to my posters.

CI: How was your recital?

ET: It went great! I was really nervous going into it because I had a lot of really hard music to play, but it ended up going well. I played well and people liked it so that's a success in my book.

If you would like to see more of Tabbaa’s content, follow his fan account @ealaphs_hair_in_various_lights!