Bassoon with Brittany G.

Brittany Giles is a bassoonist and pedagogue working towards a Doctoral Degree in Bassoon Performance from Michigan State University. Brittany believes every student, regardless of background or career goals, should have training in music and works to broaden the horizons of her students while also teaching towards their passions. Before moving to Lansing, Brittany was employed as the bassoon instructor to several eastern and central Kentucky school districts, teaching grades 6-12 with numerous levels of experience. She also gained experience teaching undergraduate-level students while pursuing her Master's in Music from Ithaca College, teaching class bassoon to future music educators and teaching private lessons. As a performer, Brittany has been selected for master classes given by many international renowned bassoonists, such as Marc Vallon, Susan Nelson, Chris Weait, Loren Glickman, and Martin Kuuskmann. She has most recently been selected as the first prize winner for the Sigma Alpha Iota Mary Ann Starring Memorial Graduate Performance award and was invited to perform at the SAI National Convention in July 2018. An advocate for contemporary chamber music, Brittany has served as a founding member to six new chamber groups since 2012, as well as researching 21st century chamber music by American women composers as part of her graduate studies. Her award-winning research was most recently published in the Spring 2019 Edition of PANPIPES, Sigma Alpha Iota's quarterly journal. A proponent of all types of musical performance, Brittany participated in Drum Corps International in 2012 and 2013 as part of the Bluecoats Drum and Bugle Corps Color Guard, both years placing in the top six corps in the world. She began teaching color guard in 2014, and is currently serving as Color Guard Director at Okemos High School (MI). She holds a Master's in Music Performance from Ithaca College (NY) and a Bachelor of Arts in Music from Morehead State University (KY). Her prominent teachers include Michael Kroth, Christin Schillinger, and David Oyen. ​ When she's not playing bassoon, you can find Brittany making reeds or hanging out with her rescue dog, Patches.