Claire Taylor embodies the diverse talent and entrepreneurial spirit needed to make a living in today’s music world. Besides teaching bassoon and coaching ensembles for Millikin University, she teaches band for Decatur Public Schools, serves as Music Director for First Presbyterian Church, owns and operates Claire Taylor Woodwind Repair, and is an active performer throughout Central Illinois. She is Principal Bassoon of the Millikin-Decatur Symphony and Heartland Festival Orchestras, Second Bassoon of the Champaign-Urbana Symphony Orchestra, and regularly plays with several other area orchestras. Also an accomplished jazz musician and woodwind doubler, Professor Taylor was a saxophonist for Celebrity Cruise Lines and has appeared in the pit of the national tour of Chicago as well as with jazz and rock groups including her own, the Claire Taylor Quartet. She holds degrees from Butler University and the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.