Nicolasa Kuster
Bassoon
Bassoonist Nicolasa Kuster joined the faculty of University of the Pacific’s Conservatory of Music in Stockton, CA, in the fall of 2008 and became it’s Associate Dean of Academic Affairs ten years later. She balances her full-time teaching and administrative position with a rich orchestral, chamber, and solo performing life around northern California and beyond. She also launched and continues to lead the Meg Quigley Vivaldi Competition, a biennial competition for young women bassoonists from the Americas. This competition awards $20,500 in prizes at the exciting three day MQVC Bassoon Symposium open to all. Kuster is Principal Bassoon of the Stockton Symphony and the New Hampshire Music Festival Orchestra, Second Bassoon (Acting Principal since 2019) of the Monterey Symphony, and performs on occasion with the San Francisco and San Diego Symphonies. Previous positions include the Wichita Symphony (also serving on the faculty of Wichita State University), the Tulsa Philharmonic Orchestra, the Rhode Island Philharmonic, and the Virginia Symphony. She spent six summer seasons performing and recording with the Spoleto Festival Orchestra in Italy. She is a double degree graduate from Oberlin College and Conservatory with a BM in Bassoon Performance and a BA in Religion. Her solo album, Metamorphosis, can be found where cd’s are sold online.