Alfredo Bonilla is in his last semester of pursuing his DMA in Bassoon Performance and is a former Bassoon Teaching Assistant. During his time at Arizona State University (ASU), he has performed with the ASU Wind Ensemble and ASU Symphony Orchestra.

Alfredo’s music career began in Veracruz, Mexico, where he was born and raised. His first teacher was Ariel Rodríguez Samaniego. He attended the Superior Institute of Music of Veracruz (ISMEV) and the University of Veracruz, studying with Dr. Rex Gulson.

Alfredo moved to the United States in 2014 to finish his Bachelor of Music degree with a focus on performance at Angelo State University in Texas, where he studied with Dr. Jeff Womack. Alfredo holds a Master of Music from Indiana University (IU) Jacobs School of Music. During his time at IU he was part of William Ludwig’s Bassoon Studio.

For two years, Alfredo was part of the Musician-in-Residence program at Mirabella at ASU. Currently, he is working on his dissertation titled “A New Commission and Recording of Duasteño, and Duasteco for Bassoon and Clarinet by Arodi Martínez Serrano, a Recording of Daniel Cueto ́s Fagot Pukllay for Bassoon and Piano, and a Recording of Noelia Escalzo ́s Argenta for Bassoon and Piano”. He is also a member of Opuntia Winds. Recently, he has premiered works for bassoon and clarinet at the ClarinetFest 2023 in Denver, Colorado, and premiered works with Opuntia Winds at the National Flute Association (NFA) Conference 2023 in Phoenix, Arizona.

He plays on a Fox 201 bassoon. Aside from music, Alfredo can be found brewing specialty coffee at home, or out on the dance floor dancing salsa and bachata.

Harrison Cody is from Boca Raton, FL and currently pursuing a master’s degree in bassoon performance and pedagogy at Arizona State University, studying with Dr. Albie Micklich. Harrison is currently one of the teaching assistants for the bassoon studio. He earned his bachelor’s degree in bassoon performance from the Florida State University, where he studied with Jeff Keesecker.

As a performer, Harrison has played professionally with the Phoenix Symphony and the ProMusica Arizona Chorale & Orchestra. In the summers, he has attended the Sewanee Summer Music Festival in Tennessee, and the Trentino Music Festival in Northern Italy. Harrison is also an avid supporter of new music and commissioned the work Dream Thief by composer Yue Sun during his time at Florida State.

As an educator, Harrison has served as the Artist-in-Residence for the Congress Middle School band in Boynton Beach, FL; the music teacher for Primary Learning Academy in Boca Raton, FL; and most recently served as the bassoon teacher for Mountain Pointe High School in Tempe, AZ.

Harrison plans to further his career as an educator, promoting diversity and inclusion and plans to make the bassoon accessible to as many students as possible. He hopes to create a supportive and safe environment for his students to explore and create music.

Michelle Fletcher (Mesa, AZ) is pursuing a Doctorate of Musical Arts: Performance degree at Arizona State University (ASU) with Dr. Albie Micklich. She previously received her Master of Music Performance from ASU and Bachelor of Music in Performance from Brigham Young University (BYU). Her primary teachers include Dr. Albie Micklich, Christian Smith, and Andy Bunch.

Through her college and graduate studies, she participated in numerous chamber and large ensemble groups, opera and theatre pits, and recording projects, as well as international concert tours to both the Philippines (BYU Chamber Orchestra) and Australia (BYU Wind Symphony). Additionally, Michelle was a featured soloist with the BYU Wind Symphony on their Australia concert tour, as well as with the BYU Philharmonic Orchestra in 2019.

Michelle’s recording contributions include the premiere of Kevin Day’s Concerto for Wind Ensemble on contrabassoon with the ASU Wind Ensemble (2022) and CD recordings with Lea Salonga (2019), the BYU combined choirs and Philharmonic Orchestra (2020), and Australian Broadway star Patrice Tipoki (2021). Michelle can also be heard on the soundtrack to the documentary Max Steiner: Maestro of Movie Music (2021) on HBO Max.

Outside of performing with ASU ensembles and teaching privately, Michelle currently holds the position of principal bassoon with Arizona Millennial Choirs and Orchestra (MCO) and subs with other branches of MCO in the western United States, the Women’s Orchestra of Arizona, and the Phoenix Symphony. Michelle has also performed at the 2023 Meg Quigley Symposium, 2023 International Tuba and Euphonium Association Conference, and the 2023 National Flute Association Conference.

She enjoys studying film scores and soundtracks as well as performing in orchestra pits for opera and theater productions and is fascinated with music cognition. Offstage, Michelle reads fantasy novels, is an amateur pianist and organist, and enjoys game nights and time spent with friends and family.

Originally from Detroit, Michigan, Joe Florance (they/them) is a first-year Master of Music student at Arizona State University (ASU) studying with Dr. Albie Micklich. At ASU, Joe will be performing with the ASU Wind Ensemble and ASU Symphony Orchestra. Their goal at ASU is to continue to refine their craft as a musician while promoting new works by underrepresented composers.

Joe holds two bachelor’s degrees from the University of Maryland (UMD) in Bassoon Performance (BM) studying with Joseph Grimmer and in Music Education (BME). During their time at UMD, they performed with the Wind Orchestra and the Symphony Orchestra working under the batons of Dr. Michael Votta, Maestro David Neely, and Dr. Andrea Brown. Joe also had numerous opportunities to work and perform with chamber groups at UMD including local performances with their wind quintet.

In addition to their undergraduate study, Joe has participated in masterclasses, workshops, and collaborations with Frank Morelli, Glenn Einschlag, William Short, George Sakakeeny, Sophie Dervaux, and Monica Ellis and the Imani Winds. Joe has also had opportunities to guest with the Capital City Symphony (Washington, DC) and has performed at the Kennedy Center. While in high school, Joe studied with Victoria King and Dr. Javier Rodriguez, who helped shape their most formative years as a bassoonist.

As an educator, Joe spent the 2022-23 school year student-teaching in public schools at Longfellow Elementary School in Columbia, MD and Walt Whitman High School in Bethesda, MD. In these internships, they worked with band, orchestra, and jazz students from grades 3-6 and 9-12 alongside mentor teachers. Joe has a strong passion for public education and plans to continue to work with public school music students while living in Arizona.

In their spare time, Joe loves to travel and has been to 45 US states and 20 countries. Most recently, they spent a month traveling across Asia which included attending the International Double Reed Society conference at Mahidol University in Nakhon Pathom, Thailand. At home, Joe can be found cooking, reading, or playing video games, when they’re not too busy practicing.

Currently pursuing his DMA at Arizona State University (ASU), Chicago-born bassoonist Bradley Johnson is an advocate of new music and promoter of diversity. He regularly performs music by underrepresented composers and has premiered numerous works by living composers.

Johnson currently holds positions with the Scottsdale Philharmonic and ProMusica and has performed in masterclasses for world-renowned musicians such as Monica Ellis, Martin Kuuskmann, Sophie Dervaux, and the Atlantic Reed Consort. He has also been featured on recordings of music by Kevin Day and Carlos Simon performed by the ASU Wind Ensemble and Symphony Orchestra, respectively.

As an advocate of research, Johnson is particularly interested in video game music. His research is focused on how video games and their music affect player experience as well as how to use video game music to enhance classical music pedagogy. He hopes to commission video game composers to write music for the bassoon.

Johnson currently studies with Dr. Albie Micklich and holds a Master of Music degree from Ithaca College and a Bachelor of Music degree from Central Michigan University. His primary teachers include Dr. Christin Schillinger, MaryBeth Minnis, Amy Rhodes, and Diane Ryan.

In his free time, Johnson plays video games, cooks, and likes to go on hikes with his dog Zuko and his fiancé Levi.

Ben Kearns is a second-year DMA student in Bassoon Performance at Arizona State University. He received his Bachelor’s of Music in Bassoon Performance from Mansfield University of Pennsylvania in 2020, and his Master’s of Music in Bassoon Performance at Arizona State University in 2022.

Kearns grew up in Macedon and Palmyra, New York and was active in his high school band and choir. Always excited to try new things, Kearns jumped from instrument to instrument, starting on piano, then trombone, then clarinet, then saxophone, and then finally bassoon.

A musician with a variety of musical interests and styles, Kearns enjoys performing Opera and Musical Theater music, chamber music, and contemporary music highlighting underrepresented composers. Dedicated to working in newer mediums of contemporary music, Kearns has studied electronic music and programs like MaxMSP, Ableton, and Reason. He plans to use these tools to work with composers to create new soundscapes that can be made possible by the bassoon, as well as in chamber ensembles. Kearns has been invited to teach Bassoon at Mansfield University summer music camps and his high school, where he was able to share the wonders of the bassoon and reed-making with young musicians.

Outside of classical music, Kearns enjoys nearly all kinds of popular music. He enjoys going hunting for old records, playing table-top roleplaying games and video games with friends, cooking, taking care of his plants, and cuddling with his cat.