Larisa Gelman, bassoon

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.