The Tennessee Bassoon Quartet, formed in 1985, consists of bassoonists Keith McClelland, James Lotz, James Lassen and Michael Benjamin. The four, from Knoxville and Oak Ridge, Tennessee, formed the group to provide additional performance opportunities for their bassoon talents. They have performed primarily in Tennessee, North Carolina, and Kentucky with a repertoire that includes Renaissance music, jazz, Gilbert and Sullivan, Saint-Saëns, and Scott Joplin.
Leonard Sharrow was one of the foremost American bassoonists of the 20th Century. Born in New York City, he joined the NBC Symphony Orchestra when it was first organized, eventually becoming principal bassoonist ; he also served in the U.S. Army in World War II. In 1951 he moved to the Chicago Symphony Orchestra at the invitation of then-Music Director Rafael Kubelik and served in a similar position there until 1964, when he retired and joined the music faculty at Indiana University Bloomington. He spent many summers on the faculty of the Aspen Music Festival before joining the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra as co-principal bassoonist in 1977. After retiring from Pittsburgh a decade later he returned to Bloomington, and eventually relocated to Cincinnati, Ohio, where he died of leukemia.
Arthur Weisberg was an American clarinetist, bassoonist, conductor, composer and author.
John Miller is a musician and bassoonist.
William Waterhouse was an English bassoonist and musicologist. He played with notable orchestras, was a member of the Melos Ensemble, professor at the Royal Northern College of Music, author of the Yehudi Menuhin Music Guide "Bassoon", of The New Langwill Index, and contributor to the New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians.
John Orford is a British classical bassoonist. He studied under Charles Cracknell and William Waterhouse at the Royal Manchester College of Music. After graduation, he became a member of the Bournemouth Sinfonietta, and later the BBC Symphony Orchestra. In 1982, he was appointed Principal Bassoon of the London Sinfonietta. In 1984, he joined the faculty at the Royal Academy of Music and the Guildhall School of Music and Drama as professor of bassoon. In 1999, he commissioned Geoffrey Grey to write the piece Preamble and 5 Variations for bassoon and piano. He has appeared with all the major British orchestras, including the London Symphony Orchestra, London Philharmonic, Royal Philharmonic, and the Philharmonia.
Martin Gatt is a British classical bassoonist. He studied under Archie Camden at the Royal College of Music in London. He served as principal bassoonist of the London Philharmonic Orchestra from 1958 to 1966, after which he was appointed principal bassoonist of the English Chamber Orchestra from 1966 to 1976. He also held the post of principal bassoon of the London Symphony Orchestra from 1977 to 1998, and was the bassoonist in the Barry Tuckwell Wind Quintet from 1967 to 1991. He is also active in music education. At the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts he founded the Department of Wind, Brass and Percussion. He taught at the Guildhall School of Music & Drama from 1967 to 1984, and is currently a professor of Bassoon at the Royal College of Music.
Roger Birnstingl is a prominent British classical bassoonist. He started playing the bassoon at age 14, Educated at Bedales School and later studied with Archie Camden at the Royal College of Music in London. He has served as principal bassoonist of the London Philharmonic (1956–1958), the Royal Philharmonic (1961–1964) and the London Symphony Orchestra (1964–1977). He later served as principal bassoonist with the Orchestre de la Suisse Romande until his retirement in 1997. He is currently professor of bassoon at the Geneva Conservatoire, where his students have included Carlo Colombo, principal bassoonist of the Lyon Opera Orchestra; and Kim Walker. He is also a joint president of the British Double Reed Society.
Robert S. Williams is an American bassoonist.
Thom de Klerk . Dutch bassoonist, double reed maker, music teacher, conductor and music director. Thom de Klerk was the first solo bassoonist of the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra from 1935 until 1966. He was successful with the directors Willem Mengelberg, Eduard van Beinum and Bernard Haitink. Guest directors like Eugen Jochum, Arturo Toscanini and Pierre Monteux made special requests for his presence in the orchestra.
Benjamin Kamins is an American bassoonist, currently active and nationally recognized as both a teacher and performer. He spent his childhood in Los Angeles, and currently resides in Houston.
Gustavo Núñez is a Uruguayan bassoonist trained at Musikhochschule Hannover and the Royal College of Music. He has served as principal bassoon of the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, together with Ronald Karten, since 1995.
Lyndon Jeffrey Frank Watts is an Australian bassoonist. He is principal bassoonist of the Münchner Philharmoniker and an academic teacher.
Julie Price is an English bassoonist. She is principal bassoonist of the BBC Symphony Orchestra.
Willard Somers Elliot was an American bassoonist and composer. He was the bassoonist with the Houston Symphony Orchestra (1946–1949), bassoonist with the Dallas Symphony Orchestra (1951–1956), principal bassoonist with the Dallas Symphony Orchestra (1956–1964), and principal bassoonist with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra (1964–1997). Elliot composed and twice performed the Concerto for Bassoon and Orchestra with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra under conductors Seiji Ozawa and Jean Martinon.
Dall C. Fields was an American bassoonist, composer, and music educator, who for much of his career, was based in and around Chicago. As a performer, he had been a bassoonist with the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, the Minneapolis Symphony Orchestra, the Chicago Philharmonic Orchestra, and later, the Bachman Woodwind Ensemble. As an educator, he taught mostly in the Chicago area, teaching out of his own studio and through affiliations with the Maywood extension of the Chicago Conservatory of Music. He also taught at Yale University and through affiliations with August Bucci (1897–1935), William Johnson of Valparaiso, Indiana, and the Valpo Music House.
Mordechai Rechtman is an Israeli bassoonist, conductor, educator and arranger.
Ronald James Klimko was an American bassoonist, author, composer, teacher, and performer.
Alireza Motevaseli is an Iranian musician.
Bram van Sambeek is a Dutch bassoon soloist and teacher.
