Joey Lavarias

Bassoonist Joey Lavarias is pursuing his Doctor of Musical Arts degree at the University of North Carolina – Greensboro, studying with Dr. Michael Burns. He received both his Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees from The Juilliard School in New York City, studying under Dr. Frank Morelli. Other teachers include Dr. Ashley Heintzen, former bassoon professor at Stetson University in Florida. He has participated in masterclasses led by Billy Short, Kristin Wolfe Jensen, and Barrick Stees.

Joey was a principal bassoonist of the Juilliard Orchestra and Opera for six years, playing under conductors like Marin Alsop, David Robertson, and Alan Gilbert. He has also played with The Chelsea Symphony, Chesapeake Orchestra, and the Bacau Philharmonic of Romania. Joey has performed at the New York String Orchestra Seminar, National Orchestral Institute (where he participated in recording a Grammy-nominated album w/ the NOI Philharmonic), Miami Summer Music Festival, Alba Music Festival in Italy, and has performed in seminars led by the Cleveland Orchestra and the Detroit Symphony. He has been featured on radio and television programs such as CBS Sunday Morning and the 2019 BBC Proms.

Joey maintains a strong interest in academics both in and out of music. For four years, Joey was a Lead Teaching Fellow for the Juilliard Ear Training Department, working under Mrs. Rebecca Scott and Dr. Wayne Oquin. He has worked as a guest teaching artist across the country, and has been on the teaching staff at the stArt Summer Arts Intensive of Osceola County, FL, the Central Florida Road to College Workshop, and the Bocal Majority Northern California Summer Camp.

You can find Joey’s performance here.