The Wire magazine places Sara Schoenbeck in the “tiny club of bassoon pioneers” at work in contemporary music today and the New York Times has called her “riveting, mixing textural experiments with a big, confident sound.” Sara promotes the bassoon as a colorful and flexible voice in both her own work and in collaboration as an improviser, interpreter and composer. She has been involved in many projects including Anthony Braxton’s 12(+1)tet, Henry Threadgill’s multi-media works, the International Contemporary Ensemble, SEM, Wayne Horvitz’s Gravitas Quartet, Ghost Train Orchestra, Wavefield Contemporary Ensemble and the Michael Leonhart Orchestra. She has performed at major venues and festivals throughout North America and Europe and can be heard on dozens of music recordings and film soundtracks including Matrix Reloaded and on her self-titled record released in 2021 to critical acclaim on Pyroclastic Records. Sara received her BFA from the San Francisco Conservatory of Music and MFA from the California Institute of the Arts. Sara is currently adjunct bassoon faculty Brooklyn College and has been adjunct faculty at California Institute of the Arts and Citrus College. Sara has given masterclasses on improvisation for bassoonists at Amherst College, Hampshire College, Cornish College, University of Denver, Western Washington University and Sacramento State University.