Sydney Scherer is a flutist and private lessons instructor local to Kannapolis, NC. Currently, Scherer is a co-founder of the Queens Gate Trio, a flute clarinet and bassoon trio that performs throughout North Carolina. Scherer is also a CommonTime Online Artist and performs online solo and chamber music concerts for the platform. During her recent master’s degree program at the University of North Carolina in Greensboro, Scherer was the Graduate Quintet’s flutist and winner of the school’s young artist competition in 2020. Outside of UNCG Scherer has participated in and won numerous solo competitions; at Wright State University she performed the Reinecke flute concerto with the WSU Orchestra as a concerto winner in 2017 and won two WSU honor recitals in 2018 and 2019. Scherer was also a featured finalist of the Central Ohio Flute Competition in 2018 and was the winner of PANdemonium4’s Virtual Ohio Flute Competition in 2020. Scherer’s mentors include Dr. Erika Boysen, Dr. Christopher Chaffee, and Natalie Woodrow.
Bassoonist Kassandra Ormsby is passionate about community outreach and is an active
performer and teacher. Kassandra is continuing to advocate and create
opportunities for music to be accessible to the community. She is currently attending the University of North Carolina—Greensboro for her Doctorate of Musical Arts in Bassoon Performance as a graduate teaching assistant for bassoon and the coordinator for the UNCG Private Lessons Program. Additionally,she has had experience performing with professional orchestras such as the Hilton Head Symphony Orchestra, Valdosta Symphony Orchestra, and Missouri Symphony Orchestra, as well as various internationally touring chamber ensembles and solo performances in Mexico, Italy, Canada, and Brazil. She teaches private lessons to students of all ages. Her mentors include Dr. Michael J. Burns, Dr.Leigh Muñoz, Dr. Stephanie Patterson, Dr. Ronald Wirt, and Raymond Patricio III.
Kassandra Ormsby is a graduate from the University of Missouri with a Master’s Degree in Bassoon Performance in which she was the graduate assistant of the Community Outreach Program, and received graduate certificates in Music Entrepreneurship and Nonprofit Management. She is also a graduate of the Schwob School of Music at Columbus State University with a Bachelor’s Degree in Music Education.
You can find the duet’s 2022 20th Century Music Competition performance here.