Paweł Wnuk is enjoying a prolific career as bassoon performer and teacher, having held professional engagements with leading arts institutions in the United States and abroad. Praised for his “clarity of sound expression”, “innovative programming”, and “extraordinary artistry” Mr. Wnuk has performed the bulk of the bassoon solo and chamber repertoire, with multiple premieres of self-arranged works and performances broadcast on public radio and TV stations. Formerly principal bassoon with the Detroit Opera, he held the same position with the Columbus Philharmonic and the Carmel Symphony and was a frequent guest with the Detroit Symphony Orchestra and the Windsor Symphony in Canada. Having secured his first position at the age of 22 as principal bassoon of the Camerata Orchestra, he performed alongside members of some of the world’s leading orchestras, and over the years has appeared under Giuliano Carella, Hans Graf, Neemi Järvi, Lorin Maazel, Leonard Slatkin, and Thomas Wilkins, among others. As a chamber musician, he is a founding member of the Northwood Winds--an ensemble dedicated to the performance of rarely heard works--which has appeared at prominent concert venues, including recitals at the Cincinnati College Conservatory of Music and the Indiana University School of Music. His other recent collaborations include the Detroit Chamber Winds and Strings, the Detroit Symphony Orchestra Bassoon Quartet, and the Chamber Music at the Scarab Club concert series, where he was involved in several premieres.
Mr. Wnuk’s extensive forays into the reed-making realm of the bassoon craft have led to the designing and building of a patent-pending, electrically powered and digitally monitored cane gouging machine. Easily adjustable in depth of cut and concentricity, the gouger is capable of processing a piece of cane in under 5 seconds and has a working accuracy to within .05 mm. He is currently developing an electric cane profiler and has also designed several other reed-making gadgets, including an electric cane cutter and a sharpening jig for profiler knives.
Strongly committed to instrumental pedagogy, Mr. Wnuk began his teaching career as Associate Instructor of Bassoon at the Indiana University School of Music. Most recently, he served in a full-time faculty appointment at Southern Methodist University Meadows School of the Arts, where he taught courses in bassoon, reed-making, and woodwind orchestral repertoire, and where he directed the chamber music program, launched a new concert series devoted to small ensembles, and spearheaded woodwind curriculum development. He is a sought-after artist clinician, having worked with advanced wind performers and chamber groups from across the instrumental spectrum. His former students have been recognized for their expressive playing and hold positions as orchestral musicians, entrepreneurs, educators, and arts administrators.
Paweł began his formal music studies at the age of seven in a specialized music school in his native Poland, continuing his training at the Interlochen Arts Academy, Miami University, the Indiana University School of Music, and University of Maine, while pursuing education across multiple fields. He holds degrees in music, interdisciplinary studies, and organizational leadership, and a certificate in higher education teaching and learning from Harvard University's Derek Bok Center.