ABOUT

OUR CREED

We believe in fun.

We believe everyone deserves access to music.

We believe there is room at the table for Bach, Beyoncé, Broadway, Beethoven, and beyond.

We believe the best musical experiences happen when people are curious, collaborative, and willing to color outside the lines.

We believe music has a remarkable ability to bring people together.

We believe in encouraging young musicians to be curious, creative, confident, and unapologetically themselves.

And we believe that you can take music seriously without taking yourself too seriously.

Especially if you play the bassoon.

FOUR BASSOONS. NO BOUNDARIES.

The Breaking Winds Bassoon Quartet is four bassoonists who decided a long time ago that four bassoons could do just about anything.

Since their time as students at the Eastman School of Music, they have performed worldwide, including in the United States, China, Hong Kong, Japan, Thailand, Canada, and Spain, at various venues from concert halls to less conventional spaces. They’ve collaborated with bassoon ensembles, universities and Chinese beatboxers.

The quartet has beed featured at International Double Reed Society conferences worldwide and as soloists with ensembles such as the West Point Band and the Eastman Wind Ensemble. In 2013, they premiered Aerin Switzer’s Breaking Out for bassoon quartet and wind ensemble with the Yale Concert Band, co-commissioned by the Eastman School of Music and Yale School of Music.

But serious music is only part of the story.

The Breaking Winds are committed to demonstrating that classical music can be lively and diverse, blending classical masterpieces with pop, rock, film music, comedy, and audience interaction. They arrange much of their repertoire and explore unconventional uses for the bassoon.

They also take music education seriously. The quartet has presented masterclasses, clinics, workshops, and residencies at universities, conservatories, youth orchestras, and music education conferences across the U.S. and internationally, working with students on everything from chamber music and performance to creativity, entrepreneurship, and the general question of why are there four bassoons in this room?

Since 2016, they have proudly partnered with Fox Products, and since 2018, Légère Reeds. Their videos have attracted millions of views and garnered interest from NPR and MTV, introducing the bassoon to broader audiences.

The Breaking Winds have never been particularly interested in fitting the bassoon into a box. They’re much more interested in finding out how far they can take it.

MEMBERS

Brittany Harrington-Smith

Kara LaMoure

Yuki Katayama Poole

Lauren Yu Ziemba

PUBLISHED BY

WHAT’S IN A NAME?

Well…we play the bassoon, a funny-looking and funny-sounding instrument with a reputation for being the class clown of the orchestra.

Samuel Taylor Coleridge described the bassoon’s ability to make listeners “beat their breasts,” while Frank Zappa described its sound as having a “medieval aroma.” Classical musicians affectionately call it “the farting bedpost.”

So when we called ourselves The Breaking Winds, we weren’t exactly trying to hide the joke. “Breaking Wind” is, of course, a euphemism for farting. We know. You know. The bassoons know.

But there’s something else hiding in the name, too. The name reflects our aim to push musical boundaries, challenge concert norms, and break down the fourth wall. connect with our audience, even if it leads to a questionable bassoon solo.

In other words, the name is eccentric, a little ridiculous, and impossible to take completely seriously. Perfect for four bassoonists