Gina Cuffari – Past Concerts

Bassoonist Gina Cuffari is a dynamic and versatile musician who performs a variety of roles in the New York City area as an orchestral musician, chamber musician, soloist, new music advocate, and educator.

Praised for having a "sound that is by turns sensuous, lyric and fast moving" ("Palm Beach Daily News"), Ms. Cuffari is Co-Principal Bassoonist of the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra. She is also the Associate Principal/2nd Bassoonist of the Riverside Symphony, as well as a frequent performer with Orchestra of St. Luke's, American Composers Orchestra, Westchester Philharmonic, American Ballet Theater, Iris Orchestra in Memphis, TN, and many others.

Ms. Cuffari’s passion for chamber music has led her to collaborate with many remarkable musicians and ensembles over the years. She performs with the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, is a member of the Jupiter Symphony Chamber Players as well as the Sylvan Winds, and is a founding member of Trio Cabrini, a clarinet, bassoon/voice, piano ensemble.

As a proponent of new music, she has been a longtime collaborator with Alarm Will Sound and has performed with Argento New Music Project and ACME. In an ongoing personal project, Ms. Cuffari has commissioned and premiered works that combine her two passions- singing and playing the bassoon- into one performing experience. Composers who have written for her include Jenni Brandon, Gregg August, Sunny Knable and Allison Loggins-Hull.

As a passionate educator, she currently holds positions at New York University and Western CT State University where she teaches bassoon, coaches chamber music, and teaches a variety of other classes. She is a frequent guest clinician at Bard College for The Orchestra Now and has taught masterclasses at universities from Yale to the University of South Carolina to the University of Arizona Tucson.