Brazilian-American bassoonist Benjamin Coelho has appeared as soloist, chamber musician, orchestral musician, teacher and clinician around the world, including the United States, Brazil, Argentina, Bolivia, Panama, Portugal, France, Romania, Australia, Canada and the Czech Republic. An avid chamber musician, he has performed with the Alaria Chamber Ensemble of New York and the Gramado Woodwind Quintet and Contemporary Music Group of Minas Gerais, both of Brazil. As a founding member of the Manhattan Wind Quintet, Mr. Coelho performed numerous recitals and concert tours throughout the United States. The group won various chamber music competitions including Artists International, Coleman, and Monterey Peninsula Chamber Music Competition, and in 1987 played a sold-out concert at Weill Recital Hall in New York. An enthusiastic proponent of new music, Mr. Coelho has commissioned, performed and recorded many works by European, American and Latin American composers.
In the United States, Mr. Coelho has played with the Waterloo-Cedar Falls Symphony in Iowa, Camerata Chamber Orchestra in Indiana, Bloomington Pops Orchestra in Indiana, Bronx Opera Company in New York and Orchestra Iowa.
Currently, he is the principal bassoonist with the Quad City Symphony Orchestra. Coelho has also performed extensively in Brazil, and has held principal positions with symphony orchestras in Rio de Janeiro, Campinas and Belo Horizonte.
As a recording artist, Benjamin Coelho boasts an impressive catalog. His recordings include Bassoon Images from the Americas (Albany Records, 2003), Bravura Bassoon (Crystal Records, 2005), Pas de Trois (Crystal Records, 2006) and Explorations (MSR Classics, 2007). As a member of the group Wizards! A Double Reed Consort, Coelho has recorded two CDs released by Crystal and Boston Records in 2000 and 2003, respectively. Benjamin Coelho attended Indiana University, the Manhattan School of Music, SUNY Purchase and the Tatui Conservatory in his native Brazil. His major teachers include Clovis Franco, Donald MacCourt, Arthur Weisberg and Kim Walker. Currently Professor of Bassoon at the University of Iowa where he has been since 1998, Coelho also served as Vice-Dean and Bassoon Professor at the Federal University of Minas Gerais.
