Tacamis Trio released their album J.S. Bach: Goldberg Variations, BWV 988 on the Leaf Music label on January 16, 2026. On January 31, the trio made the trek from Winnipeg, MB, where they are based, to Toronto for an album launch party at the Arts & Letters Club.
The recording includes all 30 of Bach’s Variations, along with the iconic aria that precedes and ends the work. The original keyboard music was arranged for the double reed trio by oboist Caitlin Broms-Jacobs.
The Tacamis Trio
The trio of freelance musicians have been performing together for about 15 years as part of the Manitoba Chamber Orchestra, as they explained during the album launch event. They are: Caitlin Broms-Jacobs (oboe/arranger), Tracy Wright (English horn) and Allen Harrington (bassoon).
Caitlin Broms-Jacobs is principal oboist of the Manitoba Chamber Orchestra. She is a busy freelance musician, and also half of the oboe-piano Duo Fierbois, who released their debut album in January 2025 on the Leaf Music label. She performs as a soloist, chamber and orchestral musician with the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra as guest principal oboist, along with performances for the Manitoba Opera and Royal Winnipeg Ballet. She originally hails from Toronto, and studied at the Royal Conservatory of Music’s Young Artists Performance Academy. Caitlin earned a Bachelor of Music degree from the Eastman School of Music.
Tracy Wright is the English hornist of the Manitoba Chamber Orchestra, and she performs regularly with the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra. She performs in chamber and orchestral concerts across Western Canada, including both traditional and new music repertoire.
Allen Harrington is the principal bassoonist with the Manitoba Chamber Orchestra. He performs as a soloist as well as a chamber musician, and regularly with the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra. He is professor of woodwinds at the University of Manitoba’s Desautels Faculty of Music, where he teaches bassoon and saxophone. Allen earned a BMus from the University of Saskatchewan, followed by an MMus from Northwestern University.
The Album
The Trio was formed during the COVID lockdowns, when regular performances were out of the question. What material to play became the question.
“We had this crazy idea,” Caitlin said, insisting the initial spark to perform the Goldbergs came from Tracey Wright. “It ended up being a serendipitous choice.”
Caitlin set to work on an arrangement, and incredibly, she had completed about the first half of the Variations in about two weeks. While still in isolation, she sent each of them their individual parts to learn.
“I’m a binge worker,” she acknowledged.
Eventually, they were able to meet for a socially distanced rehearsal.
Even the premiere of the arrangement took place to a half-capacity audience, each of the musicians separated by a plexiglass enclosure.
The arrangement has been performed live a few times since its debut in 2020. The album was recorded over four days in June of 2025 in St. John’s Anglican Church, Winnipeg.
Performance
The Goldberg Variations has become, as both the trio and host Adam Sherkin (of Piano Lunaire) noted, a kind of Canadian tradition among classical musicians. It’s also a kind of rubicon for many pianists, including, of course, the seminal Glenn Gould version, along with the more recent Víkingur Ólafsson recording.
Bach composed the work around 1741, and it’s been widely acclaimed for its expressivity along with his use of harmony and counterpoint. It features a steady 32-bar bass line, and the Variations range from peaceful to complex and fast-paced.
Caitlin Broms-Jacobs’s arrangement for three instruments, each with a distinctive sound, emphasizes individual melody and contrapuntal lines, creating an interesting variation itself on the usual keyboard performance.
“I was very pleased when we first got together to play it,” Allen said.
Each of the musicians played both melodic and contrapuntal passages. Imbued with the unique qualities of their instruments, some finished on a playful tone, and drew a few laughs from the audience.
“It very much feels like an equal effort,” Adam noted.
When the topic of whether Bach would approve came up during the discussion after the performance, Broms-Jacobs acknowledged the effectiveness of her arrangement, albeit cautiously. “I feel like he would approve of the concept of an arrangement,” she said.
The performance of the Variations, while in some aspects less complicated than that of a solo pianist, is quite onerous for double reed instruments, with it all its decorative passages, and leaps of register. The Trio was flawless, with the easy camaraderie of long time collaborators.
“It’s a remarkable achievement,” as Sherkin summed up.
- The Tacamis Trio’s J.S. Bach: Goldberg Variations is available in digital and physical formats [HERE].
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