Matthew
Rasmussen

Bassoon

Matthew Rasmussen fancies himself a performer, composer, educator, activist, and musician extraordinaire. 

He has played percussion, piano, and various woodwind instruments professionally, though the bassoon will always be his true love. Large ensembles Matthew has performed with professionally include the Sacramento Philharmonic, Bakersfield Symphony, American Youth Symphony, Santa Monica Symphony (where he currently serves as second bassoon), Solano Symphony (as a soloist performing the Weber Bassoon Concerto), and California Young Artists Symphony (as the inaugural principal bassoon). He is currently the bassoonist for Fivemind Reeds, a professional Los Angeles-based reed quintet striving towards presenting accessible and equitable classical music performances. Matthew also composes, writing percussion ensemble works, chamber music, and even performing his own Suite for Bassoon and Strings with the UC Davis Sinfonietta.

A strong advocate for music education, new music, and social justice in the arts, Matthew has commissioned new bassoon works and works for Fivemind Reeds by professional composers, and actively includes pieces by women, BIPOC, and LGBTQIA+ composers in his repertoire and teaching. He hopes to continue to expand the bassoon’s repertoire, and teach children not to fear the bassoon, but instead love and appreciate it as he does.

Matthew holds bachelor’s degrees in music and linguistics from UC Davis, studying bassoon with David Granger and composition with Laurie San Martin, and a Master of Music degree in bassoon from UCLA’s Herb Alpert School of Music, studying with John Steinmetz.