Cassandra Roache is a bassoonist whose work centers on chamber music, new music advocacy, and education. She can be found playing in a variety of settings from contemporary classical to Baroque. Cassandra aims to cultivate community wherever she goes, connecting with others through audience engagement and by pushing the limits of bassoon performance.
As a chamber musician, Cassandra maintains a special interest in chamber music with unique instrumentation. She has performed extensively with the University of Georgia Southern Wind Quintet, the graduate woodwind quintet of the Hugh Hodgson School of Music. Her bassoon and flute duo, the Lo-Hi Duo, made its debut performance in February of 2022 at the Texas Music Educators Association Conference in San Antonio, TX. Her bassoon and percussion duo, Honk and Bonk!, made its debut performance at the Music by Women Festival in Columbus, MS in March 2023 and is currently working on commissioning new works for the instrumentation. With regards to large ensemble performance, Cassandra has appeared with the Chattanooga Symphony Orchestra, Atlanta Sinfonia, Appalachia: A Southeastern Wind Symphony, the North Georgia Winds, and the University of Georgia Symphony Orchestra and Wind Ensemble.
As a new music advocate, Cassandra is interested in working with living composers and performing works written within the past fifty years. Composers she has worked with include Yeonsuk Jung, Ayako Pederson-Takeda, and Bryan Michael Wysocki. Cassandra has also performed with the University of Georgia Contemporary Chamber Ensemble, where she has performed works by Frederic Rzewski, Philip Glass, Cassie Wieland, and Anna Thorvaldsottir. Through this ensemble, she has also had opportunities to collaborate with the Athens Hip Hop Harmonic, working with artists such as Convict Julie, Kxng Blanco, Linqua Franqa, and Celeste Divine.
Cassandra is a committed educator and has been described as possessing “the rare balance of excellence in both performing and teaching.” She has taught in the North Texas and North Georgia areas and has had students participate in University of Georgia MidFest and win bassoon scholarships to McCallie Boarding School. Cassandra’s pedagogy centers on meeting a student where they are and equipping them with the tools necessary to perform at their best.
Cassandra holds a master’s degree from the University of Georgia, where she studied with Amy Pollard, and a bachelor’s degree from the University of North Texas, where she studied with Kathleen Reynolds and Dr. Jorge Cruz. She also studied with Bonnie Sherman.
Cassandra currently lives in the Twin Cities area of Minnesota, where she works as a bassoon specialist with Midwest Musical Imports. In her spare time, Cassandra enjoys raising houseplants, épée fencing, and playing video games.