Melissa Frey

Melissa Frey is a Los Angeles-based bassoonist and music educator with over two decades of experience as a professional performer and teacher. She holds a Bachelor of Music from the Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music and a Master of Music in Bassoon Performance from the University of North Texas, where she also served as a Graduate Teaching Fellow. She also served as Adjunct Professor of Bassoon at Texas A&M University-Commerce.

Her principal teachers have included Michele Grego of the Los Angeles Philharmonic, Kathleen Reynolds of the Dallas Opera, and Martin James of the Cincinnati Symphony.

As a performer, Melissa was previously Principal Bassoon of the Bakersfield Symphony for 20 years and has performed with many Texas and SoCal ensembles including the Redlands Symphony, California Philharmonic, Riverside Philharmonic, and Santa Monica Symphony.

On the teaching side, she currently is the bassoon instructor at the Pasadena Conservatory of Music. She previously taught bassoon at Arcadia High School for fourteen years and has worked with both the Colburn Community School and the Glendale Unified School District. A passionate advocate for early music education, she previously taught K–3 students at Monte Vista Elementary School, bringing music to life through movement, play, and the Orff Schulwerk approach — a pedagogy she has recently earned to a Level III Certification.