[1] Services provided by the IDRS include an international oboe and bassoon competition, an annual conference, member directory, a library, information about grants, and publications, such as the society's own journal, The Double Reed.
The IDRS Fernand Gillet-Hugo Fox International Competition for oboists and bassoonists takes place every year during the society's annual conference.
[2] The IDRS grew out of a 1969 newsletter for bassoonists compiled by Gerald Corey.
[3] Professor Lewis Hugh Cooper at the University of Michigan and Alan Fox, president of bassoon manufacturer Fox Products, founded a “double reed club” to promote opportunities for double reed players.
Together with Corey, they organized a meeting during the December 1971 meeting of the Mid-Western Band Masters convention, and the first annual conference of the double reed society assembled in August 1972 at the University of Michigan.