Noted for his “rippling and elegant” bassoon playing*, Vincent LaMonica (b. 1993, he/him/his pronouns) enjoys a diverse career in music as a performer, composer, and educator. A native of rural Ashford, Connecticut, Vinny moved back home to the Quiet Corner after completing his Master’s Degree at Northwestern University with the goal of giving back to the musical community of the Quiet Corner. He teaches PreK-8 general and instrumental music at Union School, music education majors at The Hartt School, private and group music lessons at his Quiet Corner Music Studio, and works at the Boston University Tanglewood Institute’s Bassoon Workshop for high school students with Margaret Phillips.

(*Review by the Times Union)

Vinny is the director of Ashford’s Babcock Cornet Band, the oldest continuously-running community band in the United States, currently in its 160th year under its current name, but has roots dating back to the Knowlton Rangers in April of 1775. Vinny also directs the East Woodstock Cornet Band. Vinny was invited by the Connecticut Music Educators Association to conduct the Senior Region High School Band in January of 2020, where he led over 100 auditioned high school musicians in a program featuring the works of William Grant Still, Julie Giroux, John Phillip Sousa, and Andrew Boysen, Jr.

Vinny has performed in chamber groups, wind ensembles, brass bands, and orchestras throughout New England and the Midwest, and is a substitute bassoonist and contrabassoonist with the Symphony Orchestras of Springfield (MA), Portland (ME), Albany (NY), Kenosha (WI), and South Bend (IN), the Orchestra of Indian Hill (Littleton, MA), and the Rhode Island Philharmonic. His teachers include David McGill, Nancy Goeres, Margaret Phillips, Ronald Haroutunian, Rebecca Eldredge, and Janet Polk, and he attended the 2017 season of the Aspen Music Festival and School.

Vinny is also the Executive Director and bassoonist of the Doclé Reed Quintet, a Chicago-based ensemble made up of five Northwestern alumni and is on the board of the Women Composers Festival of Hartford.

As a composer, Vinny combines the beloved aesthetics of traditional tonal music with extensive serial techniques. While creating music with a unique and progressive voice, Vinny’s style and sound are easily accessible by all audiences alike. As the recipient of an IDEA research grant, Vinny analyzed the works and techniques of Alban Berg and created a set of pieces in his style, including Vincent’s Sonatina for bassoon and piano, which is now published by T.D. Ellis Music. Vinny’s composition teachers were Dr. Kenneth Fuchs and Dr. Michael Annicchiarico.

Check out Vinny’s website, www.VincentLaMonica.com, to learn more!

Meet the Doclé Reed Quintet… and our beloved cats!