Pat Nelson's Bassoon Studio

Originally from Rhode Island, Pat Nelson received her Bachelor of Music Degree from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and her Master’s of Music Degree in Bassoon Performance from Northwestern University. She studied with John Pederson (North Carolina Symphony), Robert Barris (Dallas Symphony, Detroit Symphony) and William Dietz (Tucson Symphony).

Pat is the bassoonist with the highly acclaimed Westwood Wind Quintet. Since 2001, Westwood has released 14 recordings on the Crystal Records label. She is also the bassoonist of Western Washington University's faculty wind quintet, Fifth Inversion, that has participated in many new commissions and has been featured performers at the National Horn Convention in Cody, Wy, the National Flute Association in Minneapolis, MN, and the College Music Society International Convention in Vancouver, BC. 

She was the co-founder and President of the Bellingham Chamber Music Society, an ensemble that performed traditional and contemporary chamber music. She is the bassoonist with WWU's "Off The Hill" Chamber Music series, and performs regularly with the Pacific Northwest Opera, Melodious Notes on San Juan Island, and a New York based trio, Sapphire Winds. As a soloist, Pat has been featured with the Whatcom Symphony, Bayshore Ensemble and the Skagit Symphony.

Pat is the Bassoon Instructor at Western Washington University, Whatcom Community College, DigiPen Institute of Technology, and maintains a large private studio in Northwest Washington. She is a frequent clinician and adjudicator in the Pacific Northwest and has been guest artist and instructor at Musicfest in Wales, Utah State Music Festival, Wright State University, and California State University at Long Beach.