Gina Cuffari

Bassoonist Gina Cuffari is a dynamic and versatile musician who performs a variety of roles in the New York City area as an orchestral musician, chamber musician, new music advocate, artistic director and educator. Praised for having a “sound that is by turns sensuous, lyric and fast-moving” (Palm Beach Daily News), Gina is the Bassoonist of the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, and Principal Bassoonist of the American Symphony Orchestra and Riverside Symphony. As a member of Orpheus, Gina has performed and recorded throughout the USA, Europe, and Asia for 18 years, and recently completed her tenure as one of the ensemble’s Artistic Directors. She also performs with the Orchestra of St. Luke’s, American Composers Orchestra, and the Knights, and has played in recent Broadway productions of Fiddler on the Roof, Sunset Boulevard, My Fair Lady, Into the Woods and Camelot as a substitute bassoonist.

Gina is a frequent guest artist with the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center and is a member of Sylvan Winds, Trio Cabrini and the Jupiter Symphony Chamber Players. A longtime collaborator with the new music ensemble Alarm Will Sound, she has premiered a plethora of new works with the group over many years. In an ongoing personal project, Gina commissions and premieres works that combine her two passions – singing and playing the bassoon – into one performing experience. New works have been created by composers Jenni Brandon, Sunny Knable, Gregg August, and Allison Loggins-Hull.

As an educator, Gina currently holds positions at Stony Brook University and New York University. She is a frequent guest clinician at Bard College for The Orchestra Now and teaches masterclasses and “Singing Through Your Instrument” workshops throughout the country. She spends her summers teaching and performing at the Mostly Modern Festival at Skidmore College.