The Peabody Conservatory of the Johns Hopkins University welcomes Samuel Blair to its bassoon studio faculty beginning in the 2022-23 academic year.
Samuel Blair has held the position of utility bassoon and contrabassoon of the Kennedy Center Opera House Orchestra since 2012. A native of the Dallas, Texas, area, he began playing the bassoon at the age of 11. His studied at Southern Methodist University with the former principal bassoonist of the Dallas Symphony Orchestra, Wilfred Roberts, and received his MM from the Yale School of Music, studying with the renowned pedagogue and performer Frank Morelli. He joined the New World Symphony in Miami Beach, Florida, to continue his education under Artistic Director Michael Tilson Thomas as well as many of the world’s leading conductors and soloists. During his second season, he was a winner of the concerto competition and performed the Mozart Concerto for Bassoon with the orchestra, a highlight of his career.
Blair has attended many summer music festivals, including the National Repertory Orchestra, Sarasota Music Festival, Round Top Music Festival, and the Spoleto Festival. He held a seven-year tenure with the prestigious Verbier Festival in Switzerland with Music Director Charles Dutoit. In his final year, he toured Switzerland with the Verbier Festival Chamber Orchestra under the direction of Joshua Bell. He frequently subs with the National Symphony Orchestra and has performed with the Baltimore Symphony, Richmond Symphony, and many other local musical groups.
Bassoon Professor Phillip Kolker plans to retire from Peabody at the end of the 2021-22 academic year.
