Bassoonist, Performer
Laura Koepke has performed with many of New York’s finest orchestras, including numerous concerts with the world-renowned Orpheus Chamber
Orchestra, on European and US tours, and at home in Carnegie Hall and Avery Fisher Hall. She has also performed with the Orchestra of St. Luke’s, American Composers Orchestra, New York Pops, American Symphony Orchestra, Brooklyn Philharmonic, New York City Opera, and the Westchester Philharmonic.
In addition to performing in New York City, Ms. Koepke is the newly appointed principal bassoonist of the Erie Phiharmonic, and is the principal bassoonist of “CityMusic Cleveland,” a celebrated and innovative chamber orchestra based in Cleveland, Ohio.
From 1998 to 2009 Ms. Koepke was a member of the internationally acclaimed woodwind quintet, “Quintet of the Americas.” Three recordings with the quintet include “Dancing in Columbia” (MSR Classics,) “Karel Husa-Recollections” (New World Records,) and “Sounds of Brazil” (MSR Classics.) Ms. Koepke has performed as a guest artist with Zephyros Winds, North Country Chamber Players, Sequitur, and the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center. Ms. Koepke has performed at the Bard Festival, Bang on a Can, and Festival of the Hamptons. Other festival appearances include the Lincoln Center Festival, Bar Harbor Music Festival, Maverick Concerts, and the Weekend of Chamber Music Festival.
Ms. Koepke joined the music faculty at the State University of York at
Fredonia in 2007. Previous teaching positions include New York University, Manhattan School of Music Pre-college, Aaron Copland School of music at Queens College, and Western Connecticut State University.
She graduated from Baldwin-Wallace College and holds a Masters Degree and Artist Diploma from Yale University School of Music, where she studied with Stephen Maxym and Frank Morelli.
Bassoonist, Performer
Bassoonist Larisa Gelman has established herself as an exceptional and dynamic performer and teacher in the United States and abroad. This season she was featured as a soloist with the Brooklyn Symphony performing Richard Strauss “Duo Concertante.” Ms. Gelman’s solo concerts have included Carnival in Caroline, Denton, MD; Impromptu Concerts, Key West, FL; Mozart Festival at World Bank, Washington, D.C.; Kimmel Center, Philadelphia, PA; West Chester University, West Chester, PA; and Queens College, Queens, NYC. Upcoming engagements include recitals at the Flint Institute of Art, Flint, MI; Juneau Jazz and Classics in Juneau, Alaska and The Encore Programs at Elmira College, Elmira, NY.
Ms. Gelman is involved with educational events in the United States by collaborating with the Midori and Friends Foundation, the New York Philharmonic Outreach Program, Astral Artistic Services, Piatigorsky Foundation and Young Audiences of New York.
Her international teaching experience extends to the Oberlin Panama Project and the Carvalho International Music Festival and School in Brazil. Her innovative methods bring interdisciplinary involvement of music into the academic classroom.
As a performer, Ms. Gelman has served as the principal bassoonist of the Carolina Chamber Symphony and the Key West Symphony. In addition, she has frequently joined the Jupiter, Riverside, New Haven and Norwalk Symphonies, Bermuda Philharmonic as well as the New World Symphony and American Symphony.
Ms. Gelman is the founding member of the Atlantic Winds with which she performs in a multitude of venues in New York, including a recent appearance at the United Nations. Ms. Gelman has also performed chamber music with the New York Wind Soloists, Absolute, S.E.M. Ensemble, and the New Juilliard Ensemble and on many of New York’s finest stages.
Ms. Gelman has attended numerous festivals including the Pacific Music Festival (Japan), Tanglewood, Aspen Music Festival, American Wind Symphony Orchestra, the National Orchestral Institute and Colorado Music Festival. The summer of 2000, she joined the Spoleto Festival USA in Charleston, SC where she recorded the American premiere of Kurt Weill’s opera “Die Burgschaft” with Julius Rudel under the EMI label.
Larisa Gelman holds degrees of Bachelor of Music (bassoon) and a Bachelor of Arts and Sciences (biology) at the Oberlin College-Conservatory, and a Master of Music degree from the Yale School of Music where she studied with Frank Morelli. She currently resides in New York City with her husband, Igor Begelman.
