Bassoon
Dennis Michel is second bassoon of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and an ensemble artist with the Chicago Chamber Musicians. He serves on the faculty at Roosevelt University, where he serves as head of woodwinds, and directs the Chicago Chamber Musicians' Professional Development Program, which seeks to develop young musicians' performance and business skills.
Prior to establishing his career in Chicago, he served as principal bassoon of the San Diego Symphony Orchestra for 16 years, and was a founding member of the Arioso Wind Quintet, an ensemble that toured widely and recorded for Koch and International Classics.
Mr. Michel has been a featured performer with the Da Camera Society of Houston and in the chamber music series at Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall in New York, among others. He has appeared at numerous summer festivals, including Ravinia, SummerFest La Jolla, Bard College Festival in New York, the Grand Teton Festival, and the San Luis Obispo Mozart Festival. In 1996 Mr. Michel was the recipient of a Fulbright Fellowship for advanced study with Milan Turkovic at the Hochschule für Musik in Vienna. During that time he also performed with the Vienna State Opera.
Mr. Michel is a graduate of Yale University, where he was a student of Arthur Weisberg. He has served on the faculties at the University of Southern California, San Diego State University, and Northwestern University.
He has been a member of the Music Academy faculty since 1988.