Kylie Bartlett
she/her
bassoon
Hometown: Friendswood, TX
Alma maters: University of Kansas, B.M., 2019; New England Conservatory, M.M., 2021; The Glenn Gould School of the Royal Conservatory, A.D., 2023
Photos by Matt Dine
Competitions
First Place, 2018 Midwest Double Reed Society Young Artist Competition; Third Place, 2023 GGS Chamber Music Competition
Appearances
PRISMA Festival & Academy, 2022
Was there a teacher who was particularly impactful/helpful? What made this instructor stand out?
Each of my college professors taught me in a very different way and I gained such a vast amount of knowledge from each of them. It was so valuable to learn from them and experience their different teaching styles. Eric Stomberg gave me a great start with fundamentals and guided my career path, Marc Goldberg taught me how to troubleshoot problems and all about the orchestral repertoire, and Glenn Einschlag brought my reedmaking and technical skills to a new level.
Also, a big thank-you to my non-musician husband Damian for teaching me how to relax.
What made you decide to become a musician? Was there a particular performance or person that influenced your decision?
My high school didn’t have an orchestra, so there was a good chance I wouldn’t have been exposed to orchestral music if it hadn’t been for my band director, Greg Dick, and the repertoire he chose. We played arrangements of big classical pieces and it opened my eyes to how cool music written for orchestra is.
Is there a person or people you most respect in your field and why?
I watched my good friends Chia-Yu Hsu and Shelly Li never give up on their dreams despite years of various struggles, and have both succeeded and are playing in professional orchestras now. I hope to follow their example of steadfastness in my own journey.
Can you share any memorable onstage mishaps?
My bassoon quartet at New England Conservatory was performing for a retirement home and I had the pages of my music out of order and didn’t realize it. When we got to my solo, I just sat there smiling at the audience in complete silence. 😀
If you weren’t a musician, what would you be doing?
Probably following in the footsteps of my cool Aunt Julie and working with animals.
What is a surprising part of playing your instrument that you think most people don’t know?
The fact that bassoonists end up throwing away a large percentage of the reeds we make. It’s just part of the process since we can’t control the way the plant grows.
What do you wish you knew starting out that you know now?
Throw away more reeds!!