Lewis Kirk

Lewis Kirk serves as Artist Faculty in Bassoon at Roosevelt University's Chicago College of Performing Arts, Music Conservatory, where he teaches woodwind performance across Bachelor's, Master's, and Diploma programs. He maintains an active dual career as principal bassoonist with major ensembles including the Lyric Opera of Chicago and Santa Fe Opera.

His educational foundation spans the Peabody Conservatory and Manhattan School of Music, supplemented by professional studies in Berlin where he secured the Principal Bassoon position with Bremerhaven's Städtischen Orchester. Subsequent orchestral appointments included the New Orleans Symphony prior to his 1987 relocation to Chicago.

Professional expertise encompasses diverse performance domains:

• Opera orchestral performance under conductors like Barenboim and Solti
• Historically informed Baroque practice with Music of the Baroque
• Contemporary repertoire through Fulcrum Point New Music Project
• Bassoon composition published by Prairie Dawg Press

Current performance affiliations span the Chicago Philharmonic, Bach Week in Evanston, and guest appearances with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, reflecting sustained engagement across classical subgenres from Renaissance to modern works.