The Breaking Winds Bassoon Quartet is an artist-run creative project by bassoonists Brittany Harrington-Smith, Yuki Katayama Poole, Kara LaMoure, and Lauren Yu Ziemba. Their repertoire disregards genre, with favourites from the worlds of classical, pop, jazz, soundtrack, and folk music adapted for the ensemble by its members. Known for their stage antics, the BWBQ use choreography, accessory instruments, props, and skits to add theatrical elements to their performances. The ensemble’s mission is threefold: to navigate the intersection of classical music, pop culture, and comedy, to expand the scope of bassoon performance, and to create meaningful bonds with audiences.
The Breaking Winds have toured internationally, performing at the International Double Reed Conventions in Tokyo, Japan and Granada, Spain. They have extensively toured in Asia – traveling to China, Hong Kong, and Japan, where they shared the stage with a bassoon ensemble in Hong Kong, staged a concert in a Shanghai gallery space, and collaborated with Chinese beatboxers. Additionally, they played in concerts across the United States from coast to coast. In 2016, they joined the artist roster of the Fox Products Corporation, the premier manufacturer of bassoons in the United States, and in 2018 joined the artist roster for Légère Reeds, maker of synthetic reeds.
In 2013, the Breaking Winds premiered their commissioned concerto, Scott A. Switzer’s Breaking Out for quartet and wind ensemble, with the Yale Concert Band. They have since performed as soloists with the West Point Band, Eastman Wind Ensemble, and Northshore Concert Band. In August 2014, Breaking Out was a featured concerto at the International Double Reed Society Conference in New York City.
Advocates of creative music education, the Breaking Winds have presented master classes at University of Arizona, Southern Methodist University, Boston Youth Symphony Orchestra, and Sichuan Conservatory. They have been guest artist-teachers with the Chenery Double Reed Ensemble and the University of Missouri Bassoon Ensemble, and they have served as clinicians at the music education conferences of Pennsylvania, New Hampshire, Missouri, and Oregon.
The members of the quartet met as undergraduate students in the studio of John Hunt at the Eastman School of Music. They have since gone on to receive advanced degrees in bassoon performance from Yale University, Northwestern University, and Southern Methodist University. Each maintains an active freelance career in multiple fields, based in New York, Seattle, Houston, and Washington D.C.. The Breaking Winds’ quirky affability lends them a global following on social media. To date their Youtube channel has garnered nearly 3 million views and has received buzz from NPR and MTV.
