BY ANDREW BAILEY
BG Independent News Correspondent
It’s brotherly support in their music, not competition, for Culley and Riley Foos.
The 2021 BGHS graduates are going to the next level with their instruments — Culley on the bassoon and Riley on the double bass. Culley will join the United States Marines and play in one of its fleet bands and Riley will be attending the Cincinnati Conservatory of Music.
They may be competitive in sports and video games, but that does not extend to music. Their instruments are very different. Bassoon is a double reed woodwind and performs in the concert band, and the double bass is a string instrument and performs in the orchestra.
While they perform together in the symphonic orchestra, their musical paths have twisted, often, but not always, crossed. They each made All-State in band and orchestra, respectively.
Culley was in the BGHS Marching Band as a drum major. Riley was a tight end for BGHS Football.
They play duets together for fun, but they practice separately – Riley upstairs with his double bass and Culley downstairs with his bassoon.
They both joined the Toledo Symphony Youth Orchestra about five years ago. From his freshman through senior year of high school Riley sat as the principal bass of the Philharmonic.
They started music in fifth grade, playing guitars, saxophones, and violas, until they found their respective instruments around a year later.
Riley switched to the bass to play with a friend, and after joining the Greater Toledo International Youth Orchestra in sixth grade, he fell in love with strings and the challenge of handling such a large instrument.
Culley gravitated toward the bassoon because their mother, Nancy, played it in high school.
BGHS Band Director Bruce Corrigan gave him the green light to pick it up, and after realizing how challenging double reeds are, only gave him more incentive to master it. “I didn’t want to back down. So, I just started, and eventually got pretty good at it,” Culley said. “I didn’t want to go back to saxophone either.”
That drive is what Culley is taking to the Marines, following in their older brother’s footsteps in joining the military. Their older brother is in the National Guard, and Culley said he’s looked up to him his whole life. So, Culley decided to “one-up” him and join the Marine Band program, which entails Marine Corps boot camp along with performing in the band.
Riley is taking his skill on the double bass to Cincinnati, after passing highly selective tests to be admitted. He’d spent the last few months preparing for auditions and said the low acceptance rate was daunting. But it pushed him to work hard the same way he had when was first struggling to learn the instrument in junior high, and when he started taking lessons from Aaron Keaster in high school, a double bassist in the Toledo Symphony.
“There were about 15 double bassists auditioning, and I think only two or three got in,” Riley said.
Once graduating from the CCM, Riley hopes to become a music teacher. “I’ve always had a passion for orchestra, and I think I’d make a good teacher. I work hard and it’s something that I enjoy, so might as well work in it,’ he said.
Culley plans to pursue a college degree after the Marines. He admires the professional uniforms of the Marine Band and is excited for the rigor of boot camp and opportunity to travel, especially if he is placed in Okinawa, Japan, or Hawaii.
He has been learning from BGSU graduate and College of Musical Arts Recruiter Mikaela Kroyer since seventh grade, and surpassed steep odds just like Riley to continue his music career after graduating high school.
They’re both ready for the next step and to show their peers what they have to offer, and why they love their instruments.
“Bassoon solos are some of the best-sounding pieces of classical music ever,” Culley said.
Riley said he enjoys the low tones of the double bass and the hard pieces he has to learn for it.
And it’s in their music that they support each other.
“Sometimes we like to joke that band is better than orchestra, or Riley jokes vice versa,” Culley said. “But it’s not really a competition. They both (bassoon and double bass) have their own challenges.”
“Everybody is at different levels, and you don’t want to compare yourself to somebody else. You want to work on yourself. It’s hard to work on yourself and how good you are when you’re comparing yourself to other people,” Riley said.
And when it comes to playing each other’s instruments, they tend to stay in their lanes.
“If we tried to switch, we wouldn’t even know what to do,” Culley laughed. “I’d be lost on the bass, and Riley would be too on the bassoon.”
Riley is moving to Cincinnati in August, and Culley is leaving for boot camp in October.
Although their musical paths are diverging now more than they ever have, they still plan to keep in touch and enjoy each other’s performances.
They like to make fun of each other sometimes and joke that one instrument is harder or better than the other, but both are excited to see what success the other goes on to have.
