Teaching

The bas­soon stu­dio meets week­ly, with a rotat­ing selec­tion of top­ics and activ­i­ties. Previous ses­sions include reed mak­ing, per­form­ing for each oth­er, mind­ful­ness and stretch­ing for bas­soon­ists, an intro­duc­tion to his­tor­i­cal bas­soons, new music read­ing ses­sions, and social gatherings.

Bassoonists in the Hayes School of Music at Appalachian State play in the Appalachian Symphony Orchestra, the Appalachian Wind Ensemble, and/or the Appalachian Symphony Band. Many stu­dents also play sec­ondary instru­ments in oth­er large ensem­bles, such as  the Marching Mountaineers and the Jazz Ensemble.  More info…

Studio mem­bers are all part of our bas­soon ensem­ble, the Blazing Bassoons, which rehears­es week­ly. The ensem­ble presents a con­cert each semes­ter, fea­tur­ing both large and small groups play­ing music from a wide range of styles, gen­res, and his­tor­i­cal periods. 

Bassoonists at App State can choose to play in addi­tion­al cham­ber ensem­bles, as well. The offer­ings dif­fer a bit from semes­ter to semes­ter, but often include wood­wind quin­tets and octets, mixed groups with piano and/or strings, and the Collegium Musicum (ear­ly music ensemble).

Don’t have your own bas­soon yet? Use one of ours! App State has an array of instru­ments avail­able to loan to stu­dents, includ­ing mul­ti­ple pro­fes­sion­al Fox bas­soons. We have a Fox con­tra­bas­soon for stu­dent use, as well.

The Hayes School of Music offers under­grad­u­ate degrees in Music Performance, Music Education, Music Therapy, and Music Industry Studies. Students with anoth­er major can also pur­sue a Minor in Music. For grad­u­ate degrees, we offer Music Performance (MM) and Music Therapy (MMT)

For Fall 2026 admis­sion, our audi­tion days are November 15, January 9, January 24, and February 7. See this page for audi­tion require­ments, sched­ul­ing an audi­tion, and more gen­er­al admis­sions infor­ma­tion. If you’re inter­est­ed in audi­tion­ing, but none of the above dates works for you, e‑mail Dr. Wells.

Students who audi­tion for the Hayes School of Music at App State are auto­mat­i­cal­ly con­sid­ered for music schol­ar­ships. Various University-wide schol­ar­ships and finan­cial aid are also ava liable. For full schol­ar­ship con­sid­er­a­tion for Fall 2026 admis­sion, apply and audi­tion by February 7.  More info…