double reed day

Mid-South Regional Double Reed Symposium

March 28-30, 2025 // LSU Baton Rouge Campus

In lieu of our 2025 Double Reed Day, The LSU School of Music is thrilled to be hosting the first ever Midsouth Regional Symposium of the International Double Reed Society. Open to the double reed community of all ages and abilities, professionals, students, teachers, and music directors are all welcome to the event, which features:

  • College Masterclasses
  • High School FUndamentals Classes
  • Eric Varner Young Artist Competition (High School and College)
  • Reed Classes 
  • Lecture Presentations
  • Double Reed Ensemble
  • Recitals 
  • Vendors

Symposium Guest Artists (You can read their full bios below)

  • Emily Brebach - English Horn & Oboe, Atlanta Symphony
  • Gina Cuffari - Bassoon, Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, Stony Brook University

To learn more about the event and register, please visit www.midsouthidrs.org. Any questions can be directed to Nanci Belmont, Assistant Professor of Bassoon (nbelmont@lsu.edu) or Andrew Parker, Associate Professor of Oboe (awparker@lsu.edu). .

Symposium Guests

We are excited to welcome several distinguished guest performers to participate in the Mid-South Regional Double Reed Symposium.

image of emily brebach

Emily Brebach

Emily Brebach joined the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra as English horn and oboe in 2012. A Philadelphia native, she has performed with major U.S. orchestras and teaches at Emory University. She is a founding member of The Merian Ensemble and a faculty artist at Brevard and Grand Teton music festivals.

Emily Brebach joined the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra (ASO) as English horn and Oboe in the fall of 2012.

Ms. Brebach, a Philadelphia native, has performed with several orchestras throughout the United States, including the Boston Symphony Orchestra, the Minnesota Orchestra, the Kansas City Symphony, and the Houston Symphony. Prior to joining the ASO, Ms. Brebach held the position of English horn and oboe with the Sarasota Orchestra.

Ms. Brebach holds degrees from Oberlin Conservatory and Rice University's Shepherd School of Music and studied with Louis Rosenblatt, James Caldwell, Robert Atherholt, and Robert Walters.

She is a founding member of The Merian Ensemble, a quintet of Atlanta Symphony women musicians whose mission is to perform and commission works by women composers. Both with the Merian Ensemble and as a soloist, Ms. Brebach has been featured multiple times on the NPR program Performance Today.

She is an Artist Affiliate Instructor of Oboe and Emory University, a faculty member of the Atlanta Symphony's Talent Development Program and maintains an active private studio in her home. Ms. Brebach has also given masterclasses and reed making seminars at schools such as the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music, Florida State University, the North Carolina School for the Arts, and Columbus State University.

She spends her summers in residence at the Brevard Music Center in Brevard, NC, as English horn and oboe as well as artist faculty, and as English horn at the Grand Teton Music Festival in Jackson Hole, WY.

 

image of gina cuffari

Gina Cuffari

Gina Cuffari is the bassoonist of Orpheus Chamber Orchestra and principal bassoonist of the American Symphony Orchestra. She’s an active chamber musician, Broadway performer, and new music advocate. A passionate educator, she teaches at Stony Brook and NYU. She also commissions works blending singing and bassoon and performs at major summer festivals.

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.