UGA Bassoon and Oboe Symposium

Reid Messich serves as Professor of Oboe at the University of Georgia where he is an active member of the Georgia Woodwind Quintet. Messich also serves as Co-Principal Oboist with Memphis’s IRIS Orchestra, under the direction of Maestro Michael Stern and as the Principal Oboist of the Hilton Head Symphony Orchestra, under the direction of Maestro John Morris Russel. Each year during the summer months, Messich serves as instructor of oboe and woodwind literature at the MasterWorks Music Festival. In demand, Messich maintains an active international and national performance career as an orchestral musician, soloist, and clinician. He has presented recitals and been a guest artist at the International Double Reed Society on numerous occasions. Under the direction of Joseph Silverstein, he toured Japan and in 2017 Messich performed and taught at the Harbin Summer Music Festival in China.  

Messich has performed with many of the world’s greatest musical artists and has played under the baton of prestigious conductors such as Christoph von Dohnanyi, Christoph Eschenbach, Otto-Werner Mueller, Sir Roger Norrington, Sir Simon Rattle, David Robertson, Mstislav Rostropovich, Wolfgang Sawallisch, Robert Spano, Yuri Temirkanov, and Hans Vonk.

Messich records on the Mark Masters label. The CD Chroma, featuring the Georgia Woodwind Quintet, can be found on ITunes as well as his recording of Bozza’s Suite breve en trio. In 2016 he was part of the world premiere as well as recording solo artist for Christopher Stark’s, Velocity Meadows, for solo oboe, wind ensemble, and electronics. 

Messich received his Bachelor of Music degree at the prestigious Curtis Institute of Music where he studied under the direction of Richard Woodhams. He received his Master of Music degree and Doctor of Music degree from the Florida State University where he studied with Dr. Eric Ohlsson. His other primary teachers include, Elaine Douvas, John Mack, and Joseph Robinson.  Messich performs on a Yamaha YOB 841 Duet Series. In his spare time Messich is an avid Pittsburgh Steeler fan and enjoys spending time with his wife, Kaitlin, and daughter, Lowry.

Bassoonist Gina Cuffari is a dynamic and versatile musician who performs a variety of roles in the New York City area as orchestral musician, chamber musician, soloist, new music advocate, 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. For eighteen years, she has performed and recorded throughout the USA, Europe and Asia with this prestigious ensemble, and recently finished her tenure as an Artistic Director. Gina is also the Principal Bassoonist of the American Symphony Orchestra, Principal Bassoonist of the Riverside Symphony, and a guest performer with Orchestra of St. Luke's, The Knights, American Composers Orchestra, and many more. An avid musical theater fan, Gina has performed in Broadway productions of Fiddler on the Roof, Sunset Boulevard, My Fair Lady, Into the Woods and Camelot as a substitute bassoonist. 

Gina's passion for chamber music has led her to collaborate with many outstanding musicians and ensembles over the years. She is a regular guest performer with the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, a member of the Jupiter Symphony Chamber Players and Sylvan Winds, and founding member of Trio Cabrini, a clarinet, bassoon/voice, piano ensemble. Favorite guest appearances include making music with the Boston Chamber Music Society, Palm Beach Chamber Music Society, playing in various NYC restaurants with Tertulia, performing with Camerata Pacifica in Santa Barbara, California and making music at the Portland Chamber Music Festival in Maine.

Gina has always had a keen interest in new music, and has endeavored to support composers throughout her career. She has been a longtime collaborator with Alarm Will Sound- performing as bassoonist, vocalist and keyboardist- and has worked with many composers over the years, premiering a plethora of new works with the group. In NYC she has performed with Argento New Music Project, American Modern Ensemble and ACME, and has commissioned and premiered countless works with Sylvan Winds, Quintet of the Americas and Orpheus Chamber Orchestra. In an ongoing personal project, Gina has commissioned solo works that combine her two passions- singing and playing the bassoon- into one performing experience. Composers who have written for her include Jenni Brandon, Gregg August, Sunny Knable and Allison Loggins-Hull. 

A passionate educator, Gina joined the faculty of Stony Brook University in Fall 2023 as the Bassoon Professor (Artist-in-Residence) and is an Adjunct Professor of Bassoon at New York University. She is also a frequent guest clinician at Bard College for The Orchestra Now, has taught masterclasses at universities such as Yale and Manhattan School of Music, and has coached chamber orchestras at the National Orchestral Institute + Festival. In a desire to share her unique perspective as a singing woodwind player, Gina presents “Singing Through Your Instrument” workshops/masterclasses at schools throughout the country. During the summers, she teaches and performs at the Mostly Modern Festival in Saratoga Springs, NY and the Bard Summer Festival.

Linda Strommen is Professor of Oboe at Indiana University's Jacobs School of Music, a guest faculty teacher at The Juilliard School of the past thirty years, and a faculty member of the Interlochen Arts Camp and the New York String Orchestra Seminar. A former member of the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra and the Santa Fe Opera, she has held principal and assistant principal positions with Milwaukee, Honolulu, New Haven, Wichita, and Baton Rouge Symphonies and acting principal oboe positions with the Rochester Philharmonic and the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra. A devoted teacher and clinician, Ms. Strommen has also been on the faculties of Mannes College of Music, The Juilliard Pre-College, State University of New York at Purchase, Louisiana State University, Wichita State University, University of Hawaii, and Yale University. Her students occupy positions all over the world. She holds BM and MM degrees from the Cleveland Institute of Music where she studied under John Mack.