Born in Padua, Italy, Carlo Colombo has served as Principal Bassoon of the Lyon National Opera Orchestra since its inception in 1983. From 1978 to 1981 he was Principal Bassoon of the ensemble I Solisti Veneti, and has also played with many important European orchestras as guest solo bassoon. Faculty member of the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique de Lyon since 2001, Mr. Colombo joined the faculty at the Lausanne Conservatory in Switzerland in 2005, and he was a guest professor at Indiana University and at the Oberlin Conservatory. Mr. Colombo received his “Diploma di Fagotto” from the Milano Conservatory,where he studied with Evandro Dall’Oca. He obtained his “Premier Prix de Virtuosité” from the Geneva Conservatory where he studied with Roger Birnstingl. He also studied with Brian Pollard in Amsterdam. His interest in original instruments had him playing with the « Orchestre Révolutionnaire et Romantique » conducted by Sir John Eliot Gardiner. Invited by several Festivals and Academies, he has also given master classes worldwide. He plays on Bell Bassoon No. 69.
Born in Montréal, Canada, Stéphane Lévesque has been the principal bassoon of the Orchestre symphonique de Montréal (OSM) since September 1998. He has also served as principal bassoon of the Saito Kinen Orchestra and Mito Chamber Orchestra in Japan, as well as of the National Arts Centre Orchestra in Ottawa and of the Buffalo Philharmonic. Mr. Lévesque has appeared as soloist on several occasions with the OSM as well as with ensembles such as the Orchestre symphonique de Québec, the New World Symphony, Les Violons du Roy, and the U.S. Army Orchestra. Assistant professor at the Schulich School of Music of McGill University, Mr. Lévesque has appeared at IDRS conferences in Buenos Aires, Morgantown, Banff (which he co-hosted with Marc Fink), Austin, Muncie, and Birmingham (UK). A graduate of the Conservatoire de musique de Montréal and of the Yale School of Music, Stéphane Lévesque studied with Rodolfo Masella, Stephen Maxym and Frank Morelli. He plays on Bell Bassoon No. 180.
Martin Mangrum studied bassoon for several years with Stephen Maxym at the Juilliard School, ultimately escaping with a doctorate. Later, he worked extensively with Mordechai Rechtman, most recently helping him to write his book on reed adjustment. Before joining the Orchestre symphonique de Montréal as second bassoon in 2000, he served as principal bassoon of the Royal Seville Symphony and, subsequently, as associate principal of the Barcelona Symphony. For the past 25 years he has also been a member of the bassoon faculty at McGill University’s Schulich School of Music. He plays on Bell Bassoon No. 261.
Mathieu Harel has been the associate principal bassoon of the Orchestre symphonique de Montréal since 1998. After studying at the Conservatoire de Musique de Montréal in the classes of Rodolfo Masella and Gerald Corey, he continued his education at the Curtis Institute in Philadelphia with Bernard Garfield. He has held positions with the Orchestre symphonique de Québec and the Grant Park Orchestra in Chicago. He has been teaching at the Conservatoire de Musique de Montréal since 2004, and he has also worked with students at McGill University, at the Domaine Forget and at the National Youth Orchestra of Canada. He plays on Bell Bassoon No. 99.
Leyla Zamora has been a member of the San Diego Symphony Orchestra since 2005. Before coming to San Diego, Ms. Zamora was the principal bassoonist with the Memphis Symphony Orchestra for 11 years. She has also performed with the San Francisco Symphony, Minnesota Orchestra, Atlanta Symphony, Saint Louis Symphony, Seattle Symphony, Auckland Philharmonia in New Zealand among others. Ms. Zamora has participated in orchestral and chamber music festivals such as Carmel Bach , Cabrillo, Mainly Mozart, La Jolla SummerFest, Britt, and Spoleto Music Festival in Italy. She has presented solo concerti and recitals in the United States, Costa Rica, Guatemala, Colombia, Panama,Japan, Czech Republic, and the former Soviet Union. Ms. Zamora studied at the Tchaikovsky Conservatory in Moscow, Baylor University and DePaul University in Chicago. She plays on a Fox contrabassoon.