Biography

Joseph Grimmer is Principal Bassoon of the Kennedy Center Opera House Orchestra/Washington National Opera Orchestra and the Bassoon Professor at the University of Maryland. He also holds the Principal Bassoon positions of the Harrisburg Symphony Orchestra and the Cabrillo Festival of Contemporary Music in Santa Cruz, CA and performs frequently with the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra and the National Symphony Orchestra. He previously served as Principal Bassoon with the Jacksonville Symphony, was a member of the Houston Grand Opera Orchestra, and was Acting Assistant Principal Bassoon with the Naples Philharmonic. He has performed as a soloist with the IDRS Conference Orchestra and the Harrisburg Symphony Orchestra. He recently joined the faculties of Howard University and Catholic University.

Grimmer was awarded an Independent Artist Award by the Maryland State Arts Council in 2020. He is a faculty member and Woodwind Chamber Music Director of the Miami Music Festival and maintains a private bassoon studio. Grimmer performs throughout the DMV area with the Juniper Trio with oboist Jamie Roberts and pianist Jamila Tekalli.

Grimmer earned his Master of Music degree from Rice University’s Shepherd School of Music, where he studied with Benjamin Kamins. He also studied with William Winstead at the University of Cincinnati’s College-Conservatory of Music, where he earned his Bachelor of Music degree. Grimmer was a fellow at the Lucerne, Aspen, and Sarasota Music Festivals and a prize winner at the International Double Reed Society’s Young Artist Bassoon Competition in Birmingham, England.