By JOEL SACHS

The New Juilliard Ensemble's November 14 program at Alice Tully Hall features two works with double-reed soloists: one with oboe, and the other with bassoon. Therein lies a tale of sorts. From its earliest days, the N.J.E. has always had excellent and enthusiastic bassoonists—something not surprising at a school whose president and associate dean of performance activities both are bassoonists. Since I enjoy featuring individuals in the ensemble, the appearance of a new work with bassoon solo was especially welcome, and all the more so because it came from the hand of Toshio Hosokawa, one of Japan's most interesting composers. I therefore jumped at the chance to give the piece (Voyage II) its American premiere. Since I already had scheduled vocal solos for the September, December, and April programs (as well as a violin concerto, also in April), Hosokawa's piece naturally went to the November concert. With all solos in place, I could move on to the rest of the programming.

Ursula Mamlok (Photo by Robin Holland)

Then, unexpectedly, I had a call from Ursula Mamlok, one of my favorite composers, who had never written anything suitable for the New Juilliard Ensemble. I was therefore delighted to hear what was on the horizon. A quarter-century ago, she had written a concerto for oboe and large orchestra, which—for very unfortunate reasons that I shall shortly explain—had never been performed. Ms. Mamlok once had produced an arrangement of it for two pianos and percussion, which had been given one reading and shelved. Orchestras, she soon discovered, simply were not interested in a new oboe concerto.

Now she was thinking of reworking it for oboe and chamber orchestra; if I were interested, she could rescore it over the summer. She certainly did not need to ask twice. Although I said I should look at the original, I assumed I would give her an enthusiastic yes, since I find her music so uniformly interesting and beautiful. Indeed, the original concerto looked wonderful, and seemed like its ensemble could be successfully shrunk. She guaranteed that she would have it done on time. But "on time" meant the November concert—which already had a double-reed concerto, and I generally prefer not to have more than one concerto or similar work on a program, lest they cancel each other out. Now I would have two concertos for double-reeds. Well, what can one say? What is a rule if one cannot break it?

The problem was that two oboists who had played regularly with the N.J.E. were graduating, and I had no idea whether the new students would want to jump into learning a new piece for an early audition. Therefore, I told her my final decision would have to wait until I was certain that I could guarantee a fine soloist. That had to be ascertained immediately. While May is a long way before November, it comes only a month or two before the deadline for season publicity—and a Mamlok premiere should be included in the publicity. Accordingly, I decided not to take a chance on waiting to hold a competitive audition and invited Yousun Chung, who had become the senior oboist in the ensemble once the older students had graduated, to play. To my great pleasure, after examining the piece, she agreed to perform it. Since Ms. Mamlok said she would not change the solo part, we could give Yousun the music before summer vacation. Everything was set.

Let me not forget the events that led to the concerto sitting on the shelf for nearly 30 years. In the mid-'70s, the Oboe Concerto was commissioned by Nora Post, a fabulous young performer who was becoming quite a star when she suddenly vanished from the stage. Rumors had it that she was gravely ill or had had an accident and no longer could play. Nobody seemed to know exactly what happened, and Ursula Mamlok's piece was never heard.

Having arranged the coming performance, I was driven to tell Nora the good news and see if she could possibly attend. However, I had not seen her in nearly 30 years. Naturally, the hunt began with a Google search—and sure enough, up she popped, living in Kingston, N.Y., importing and repairing oboes. I phoned her immediately and, after warm greetings back and forth, learned how a problem with her lower back had led to four failed operations, during the course of which she was warned twice that she might die. Nora is, however, a real survivor; although in chronic pain for which there is no cure at present, she enjoys her work, is mobile, and most cheerful. To my great joy, she hopes to come for the performance.

New Juilliard Ensemble Alice Tully Hall Friday, Nov. 14, 8 p.m. For ticket information, please see the calendar.

The tale of Ursula Mamlok's Oboe Concerto has one other surprising element. In preparing the program notes, I noted familiar details: born in Berlin in 1928, fled from the Nazis, spent two years in Ecuador, and ended up in New York. After submitting her youthful compositions to Mannes College, Ms. Mamlok studied composition with George Szell. But then I noticed that her degrees are from the Manhattan School. In a telephone conversation, she explained that she had dropped out of school to marry and, in 1956, decided to complete her education—this time at the Manhattan School. Then came the surprise: Ms. Mamlok confessed that, not knowing that Americans return to school at any age, and concerned that she would be regarded differently from her younger fellow-students, she "chopped off" five years from her age. After a brief pause, and with obvious delight, she declared, "Actually, I am 80!" (I wish I could have seen her jolly, pixyish face as she told me this.) Now, however, she was acutely embarrassed at having led everyone astray. Indeed, even Grove's Dictionary has the wrong birth year! When I tentatively asked if she wanted to take this opportunity to set the record straight, she immediately assented, adding that she wanted people to understand that she is not "one of those old ladies who lies about her age." It was just that, having lost so much time running from the Nazis, she had found herself in an awkward position. The discomfort had all been unnecessary, but once the wrong birth date had been circulated, the momentum was impossible to stop. So our world premiere of the rescued Oboe Concerto will celebrate Ms. Mamlok's 80th birthday year, not her 75th!

The oboe and bassoon solos are two of five marvelous pieces to be heard on November 14. There is yet another world premiere: Al Ha-Shminit: Interludes on a Bygone Mode, by Dalit Hadass Warshaw, a composition student who completed her D.M.A. last year and was one of two winners of the N.J.E.'s annual competition for Juilliard composers. Her piece features a solo for theremin, the electrostatic instrument which is one of the few survivors of the new instruments of the 1920s. Ms. Warshaw, a virtuoso pianist and thereminist, will play. The other works are both U.S. premieres: Irish composer Gerald Barry's Dead March, and Twilight Music by Dmitri Yanov-Yanovsky, of Uzbekistan. Both composers have already been represented in New Juilliard Ensemble concerts.

Joel Sachs is the director of the New Juilliard Ensemble and the annual Focus! Festival.