College of Performing Arts Faculty

Profile

Praised for her “flair” and “deftly illuminated” performances by The New York Times, bassoonist Rebekah Heller is a uniquely dynamic soloist and collaborative artist. Called "an impressive solo bassoonist" by The New Yorker, she is fiercely committed to expanding the modern repertoire for the bassoon. Her debut solo album of world premiere recordings (featuring five new pieces written with and for her), 100 names, was called "pensive and potent" by The New York Times and her second album, METAFAGOTE, has received wide acclaim.

As Co-Artistic Director and bassoonist of the renowned International Contemporary Ensemble, Rebekah has premiered hundreds of new works on stages the world over. She made her solo debut with the New York Philharmonic in September 2018, playing the music of longtime collaborator Ashley Fure, and has been a featured soloist with the Seattle Symphony, the Nagoya Philharmonic, and the New World Symphony.

Committed to fostering conversations around new ways music can be experienced and shared, Heller has been a featured panelist at the New York Philharmonic’s “Insights at the Atrium,” the New York Public Library for the Performing Arts, Miller Theater and the Abrons Arts Center. She has given masterclasses and lectures at many institutions, including Carnegie Hall’s Ensemble Connect, Oberlin Conservatory, Peabody Conservatory, and the Manhattan School of Music, among many others. Rebekah will begin teaching at the Mannes School of Music at the New School, in the Fall of 2019.

Before joining the International Contemporary Ensemble in 2008, Rebekah served as Principal Bassoonist of the Jacksonville Symphony. She is an alum of the New World Symphony, UT Austin, and Oberlin College and Conservatory of Music. She lives in Manhattan.