Joseph Grimmer

Joseph Grimmer is Principal Bassoon of the Washington National Opera/Kennedy Center Opera House Orchestra and the Harrisburg Symphony Orchestra and is Assistant Professor of Bassoon, Division Coordinator of the Winds & Percussion, and Coordinator of Chamber Music at the University of Maryland. He previously served as Principal Bassoon with the Cabrillo Festival of Contemporary Music, the Jacksonville Symphony, was a member of the Houston Grand Opera Orchestra, Acting Assistant Principal Bassoon with the Naples Philharmonic, and spent six summers as Assistant Principal Bassoon with the Colorado Music Festival Orchestra in his hometown of Boulder, Colorado. He has performed as Guest Principal Bassoon with the Los Angeles Philharmonic, Detroit Symphony Orchestra, Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, Grand Rapids Symphony, IRIS Orchestra, Savannah Philharmonic, and Windsor Symphony Orchestra. He has also performed with the National Symphony, Pittsburgh Symphony, Milwaukee Symphony and Arizona Musicfest Orchestras.

Grimmer was a fellow at the Lucerne, Aspen, and Sarasota Music Festivals and a prize winner at the International Double Reed Society’s Young Artist Bassoon Competition in Birmingham, England. He previously taught at Catholic University, Howard University, the Shenandoah Conservatory, has given masterclasses in Spain, Sweden, Canada, and throughout the USA, and is a guest artist for NYO2 in summer 2026. Grimmer earned his Master of Music degree from Rice University’s Shepherd School of Music, where he studied with Benjamin Kamins. He also studied with William Winstead at the University of Cincinnati’s College-Conservatory of Music, where he earned his Bachelor of Music degree.