photo by Matt Dine
George Sakakeeny was appointed Professor of Bassoon at the Tianjin Juilliard School in December of 2025. Previously he held the same position at the Eastman School of Music for 10 years, and at the Oberlin Conservatory of Music for 28 years. He also holds the titles Professor Emeritus of the Oberlin Conservatory and Guest Professor of the Central Conservatory of Music of Beijing. He also served as Visiting Professor for Graduate Studies at Simon Bolivar University in Caracas, Venezuela.
In the past he held the Principal Bassoon positions of the New Japan Philharmonic, the Handel & Haydn Society of Boston, the Opera Company of Boston, Boston Musica Viva, the Promusica Chamber Orchestra of Columbus, and CityMusic Cleveland. He also served as Artist Faculty of the Aspen Music festival, and principal bassoonist of the Eastern Music Festival, Grand Teton Music Festival, the New Hampshire Music Festival, the Peninsula Festival, and performed extensively with the Boston Symphony and Boston Pops Orchestras. More recently he has served as occasional guest principal of the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra and Acting Principal Bassoonist of the Fort Worth Symphony for the 2025-26 concert season.
Sakakeeny has appeared as a soloist with orchestras throughout North and South America, Europe, and the Far East, including engagements in Vienna at the historic Musikverein, at Bass Hall with the Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra, at Severance Hall with members of the Cleveland Orchestra, and a nationally televised concert in Japan under the baton of Seiji Ozawa. Three major works for bassoon and orchestra have been commissioned for him. Libby Larsen’s full moon in the city (2013), Peter Schickele’s Bassoon Concerto (1998), and Viennese composer Alexander Blechinger’s Faggottkonzert (1997.) As a soloist, he has recorded, Hindemith's Bassoon Sonata, Blechinger’s Faggottkonzert for the Harmonia Classica label as well as his solo CD, full moon in the city on the Oberlin Music label, which features four previously unrecorded works for solo bassoon and orchestra.
Many of Professor Sakakeeny’s former students have gone on to hold positions in symphony orchestras, chamber ensembles, and universities throughout North and South America, Europe, and the Far East. He has been invited to teach master classes at several International Double Reed Society conferences and has served as a jury member for international and national competitions. For seven years he worked in an ongoing capacity as wind coach and bassoon teacher in the Venezuelan National Youth Orchestra System, known as “El Sistema.” His contributions included teaching master classes to orchestra members, leading wind sectionals, and providing training to the bassoon teachers of El Sistema through his position as Guest Professor of the Latin American Bassoon Academy. He was on the faculty of the Interlochen Arts Academy from 1991-1995 and from 2006 spent 9 summers teaching at Interlochen Arts Camp. He, along with Eric Stomberg, founded the Bassoon Intensives at Interlochen. Sakakeeny was educated at the Eastman School of Music, studying under the great 20th century pedagogue K. David Van Hoesen. He also counts numerous others as important mentors and musical influences, including bassoonists Bernard Garfield and Sherman Walt , clarinetist Harold Wright, and oboist James Caldwell.
Sakakeeny has given numerous solo recitals and taught master classes at leading institutions such as the Paris Conservatory, the Juilliard School, the Tchaikovsky National Music Academy in Kiev, Rice University, and the Tokyo University of the Fine Arts (Tokyo Geidai.) He has also performed longer-term teaching residencies at the Central Conservatory of Music in Beijing, Shanghai Conservatory of Music, the New World Symphony, Seoul National University, and the Conservatoire National Supérieur Musique et Danse of Lyon, France.
A veteran chamber music performer, he has appeared on four continents with various ensembles, including the Tianjin Juilliard Ensemble, the Oberlin Reed Trio, Boston Musica Viva, the bassoon quartet Men Who Don't Bite, and the Boston Wind Octet. As a chamber music artist he is featured on numerous recordings, most notably the International Double Reed Society’s 25th anniversary CD in a performance of the Villa-Lobos Duo for oboe and bassoon with oboist Alex Klein. He is the author of the iBook Making Reeds Start to Finish with George Sakakeeny.
In the past he held the Principal Bassoon positions of the New Japan Philharmonic, the Handel & Haydn Society of Boston, the Opera Company of Boston, Boston Musica Viva, the Promusica Chamber Orchestra of Columbus, and CityMusic Cleveland. He also served as Artist Faculty of the Aspen Music festival, and principal bassoonist of the Eastern Music Festival, Grand Teton Music Festival, the New Hampshire Music Festival, the Peninsula Festival, and performed extensively with the Boston Symphony and Boston Pops Orchestras. More recently he has served as occasional guest principal of the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra and Acting Principal Bassoonist of the Fort Worth Symphony for the 2025-26 concert season.
Sakakeeny has appeared as a soloist with orchestras throughout North and South America, Europe, and the Far East, including engagements in Vienna at the historic Musikverein, at Bass Hall with the Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra, at Severance Hall with members of the Cleveland Orchestra, and a nationally televised concert in Japan under the baton of Seiji Ozawa. Three major works for bassoon and orchestra have been commissioned for him. Libby Larsen’s full moon in the city (2013), Peter Schickele’s Bassoon Concerto (1998), and Viennese composer Alexander Blechinger’s Faggottkonzert (1997.) As a soloist, he has recorded, Hindemith's Bassoon Sonata, Blechinger’s Faggottkonzert for the Harmonia Classica label as well as his solo CD, full moon in the city on the Oberlin Music label, which features four previously unrecorded works for solo bassoon and orchestra.
Many of Professor Sakakeeny’s former students have gone on to hold positions in symphony orchestras, chamber ensembles, and universities throughout North and South America, Europe, and the Far East. He has been invited to teach master classes at several International Double Reed Society conferences and has served as a jury member for international and national competitions. For seven years he worked in an ongoing capacity as wind coach and bassoon teacher in the Venezuelan National Youth Orchestra System, known as “El Sistema.” His contributions included teaching master classes to orchestra members, leading wind sectionals, and providing training to the bassoon teachers of El Sistema through his position as Guest Professor of the Latin American Bassoon Academy. He was on the faculty of the Interlochen Arts Academy from 1991-1995 and from 2006 spent 9 summers teaching at Interlochen Arts Camp. He, along with Eric Stomberg, founded the Bassoon Intensives at Interlochen. Sakakeeny was educated at the Eastman School of Music, studying under the great 20th century pedagogue K. David Van Hoesen. He also counts numerous others as important mentors and musical influences, including bassoonists Bernard Garfield and Sherman Walt , clarinetist Harold Wright, and oboist James Caldwell.
Sakakeeny has given numerous solo recitals and taught master classes at leading institutions such as the Paris Conservatory, the Juilliard School, the Tchaikovsky National Music Academy in Kiev, Rice University, and the Tokyo University of the Fine Arts (Tokyo Geidai.) He has also performed longer-term teaching residencies at the Central Conservatory of Music in Beijing, Shanghai Conservatory of Music, the New World Symphony, Seoul National University, and the Conservatoire National Supérieur Musique et Danse of Lyon, France.
A veteran chamber music performer, he has appeared on four continents with various ensembles, including the Tianjin Juilliard Ensemble, the Oberlin Reed Trio, Boston Musica Viva, the bassoon quartet Men Who Don't Bite, and the Boston Wind Octet. As a chamber music artist he is featured on numerous recordings, most notably the International Double Reed Society’s 25th anniversary CD in a performance of the Villa-Lobos Duo for oboe and bassoon with oboist Alex Klein. He is the author of the iBook Making Reeds Start to Finish with George Sakakeeny.
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