Ann PesaventoEmeriti

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A native of Appleton, Wisconsin, Ann Pesavento has taught at Gustavus since 1978 as a full-time faculty member, coordinating woodwind activities, teaching bassoon, music theory and music education courses and conducting/coaching woodwind ensembles. Since 2011, she has served as adjunct instructor of bassoon and woodwind chamber music coach.  Her graduate degrees are from Butler University and the University of Northern Colorado. In the Twin Cities, Dr. Pesavento has played at the Guthrie Theatre, the Children's Theatre, the Walker Art Center and as an extra with the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra. Locally, she served as principal bassoon of the Mankato Symphony for 23 years - soloing on Lars Eric Larsson's Concertino for Bassoon, the VanHal Concerto for Two Bassoons, and the Mozart Sinfonia Concertante - and is currently a free-lance performer in the area.

A strong advocate of chamber music, she was a founding member of the St. Paul wind ensemble, Harmonia Mundi, as well as of the Gustavus Baroque Quartet, the Gustavus Faculty Woodwind Trio and Tre Kroner Kvintetten (the faculty woodwind quintet). She performed on several Minnesota Valley Sommarfest programs, soloing on the Vivaldi Concerto in A minor and contributing to performances of the Schubert Octet, Mozart Gran Partita, Dvorak's Serenade, and Stravinsky's Histoire du Soldat and Octet among others. She toured to the East Coast as soloist with the Gustavus Symphony Orchestra, performing Weber's Andante and Hungarian Rondo, and was featured in Fucik's Old Bear with the Sore Head with the Gustavus Band. Her several solo recitals have included collaborations with oboe, fluie, clarinet, Classical guitar, and string chamber ensembles.  A past-president of the Minnesota Music Educators Association, she is active throughout the region as a private teacher, clinician, conductor and adjudicator.

Dr. Pesavento retired from full-time teaching at the end of the 2010-2011 school year but continues to-date as the school's bassoon instructor. [She also was recently named the bassoon instructor at Carleton College.]  The Greater Gustavus Bassoon Guild (GGBG) was founded during her time as a full-time faculty member and continues as one of the most unique ensembles included in the Gustavus music offerings.

Courses Taught