Since entering the world of professional music in 1972 as the associate principal bassoonist of the Minnesota Orchestra, Benjamin Kamins has enjoyed a wide-ranging career as an orchestral musician, chamber player, solo performer, and educator. In 1981 he was appointed Principal Bassoon of the Houston Symphony, a position he held until 2003.  He is currently the Lynette S. Autrey Professor of Bassoon at Rice University’s Shepherd School of Music.  In addition, he has served as a guest principal with other major symphony orchestras in Pittsburgh, Los Angeles, Boston, and New York.

Mr. Kamins’ interests have also taken him into the world of historical performance where he performs on baroque bassoon.  He can be heard playing with many fine period instrument ensembles, especially Ars Lyrica Houston. In addition to his musical activities, Ben Kamins is a certified teacher of the Alexander Technique through Alexander Technique International.

An alumnus of the Music Academy ('68, '69), he has been an Academy faculty member since 1999.

Dennis Michel is the recently retired second bassoonist of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and was an ensemble artist with the Chicago Chamber Musicians. He served as Artist Teacher of Bassoon at The Chicago College of Performing Arts at Roosevelt University. Prior to establishing his career in Chicago, he was principal bassoonist of the San Diego Symphony Orchestra for 16 years and was a founding member of the Arioso Wind Quintet. Mr. Michel has appeared at Tanglewood, the Grand Teton Festival, the Bard College Festival, San Luis Obispo Mozart Festival, and Summerfest La Jolla. Mr. Michel is a graduate of Yale University, as a student of Arthur Weisberg. As a Fulbright Scholar, he studied with Milan Turkovich at the Hochschule für Musik and performed with the Vienna State Opera. Mr. Michel has served on the faculties of Northwestern University, The University of Southern California, The University of California at San Diego, and San Diego State University, and has been a Music Academy teaching artist since 1988.

William Short was appointed Principal Bassoon of the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra in 2012 and has served on the faculties of The Juilliard School, Manhattan School of Music, and Temple University since 2016. He has performed and taught at the Lake Champlain, Lake Tahoe, Mostly Mozart, Stellenbosch, Strings, and Verbier Festivals. William received his Bachelor of Music from the Curtis Institute of Music, where he studied with Daniel Matsukawa and Bernard Garfield, and his Master of Music at Rice University’s Shepherd School of Music, where he studied with Benjamin Kamins. A Fox Artist, William plays on a Model 750, which he is proud to have helped develop.