Bassoon with Gina V.

Convinced right away that it was the instrument for her, Gina Vitanza began studying the bassoon as a seventh grader in San Francisco. Immersed in music at the Ruth Asawa School of the Arts, she also joined the Oakland Youth Orchestra in high school. Gina studied with Nancy Goeres, principal bassoonist of the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, at Carnegie Mellon University where she received her Masters in Music. For her Bachelors, she went to University of the Pacific where she studied with Nicolasa Kuster, principal bassoonist of the Stockton Symphony. She has performed on master classes by Gabriel Beavers, Kristin Wolfe Jensen, Kathleen McLean and John Steinmetz. Gina now freelances in the San Francisco Bay Area and nearby cities and has performed with several groups such as the Stockton Symphony, Merced Symphony, Santa Cruz Chorale. Gina is fascinated with how music has changed over the centuries and constantly looks for new music by living composers to learn and perform. She also speaks English and Cantonese.