Jacqueline Wilson

Coordinator of Music Theory, Assistant Professor, Bassoon and Theory

Bassoonist Dr. Jacqueline Wilson is an active performer, pedagogue, collaborator, and advocate. She currently serves as Principal Bassoonist of the Washington Idaho Symphony and Assistant Professor of Bassoon at Washington State University where she performs with the Solstice Faculty Wind Quintet. As an active soloist and chamber musician, she regularly presents recitals, masterclasses, and clinics including engagements at the International Double Reed Society Conference (Boulder, CO, Tampa, FL, Columbus, GA,), the International Alliance for Women in Music Conference (Corvallis, OR), the Meg Quigley Bassoon Symposium (Tucson, AZ, Los Angeles, CA), and the Whitney Museum of American Art (New York, NY). She is also a founding member of Ensemble 337, an innovative bassoon and marimba duo with percussionist Dr. Christopher Wilson. An eager contributor to the double reed community, Dr. Wilson currently serves as Vice President of the International Double Reed Society, a Co-Executive Director of the Meg Quigley Vivaldi Competition and Bassoon Symposium, and co-hosts the Double Reed Dish podcast with oboist Dr. Galit Kaunitz.

As an avid supporter of new music, Dr. Wilson (Yakama) frequently collaborates with composers on the creation of new works to expand the repertoire of the bassoon. She is especially passionate about embracing diversity in her performances by elevating music featuring underrepresented perspectives and lived experiences, with a special focus on collaborating with Indigenous composers. In this capacity, she has premiered, commissioned, and recorded works by composers Juantio Becenti, Connor Chee, Louis W. Ballard, and Raven Chacon, among others. These efforts can be heard on her debut album, Works for the Bassoon by Native American Composers (WSU Recordings). Expansion of this work was supported by a WSU New Faculty Seed Grant in the form of an international Indigenous artistic collaboration with Māori composers, as well as an Artist Trust Fellowship to fund the commissioning of a concerto for bassoon and strings by Connor Chee. She also actively composes new pieces and creates resources that facilitate the performance of works from the 20th century and beyond. Wilson’s composition Dance Suite for Solo Bassoon was awarded the 2022 PatsyLu Prize for outstanding work by a BIPOC composer in the 41st Search for New Music Competition by the International Alliance for Women in Music. Her article, “Strategies for Learning Luciano Berio’s Sequenza XII,” co-authored with Dr. Christin Schillinger (Ithaca College), has been published in The Double Reed and the Journal de L’Association Bassons (France). Similarly, her dissertation, an analysis and performance guide of Sofia Gubaidulina’s Concerto for Bassoon and Low Strings, has been utilized by noteworthy bassoonists worldwide.

Dr. Wilson holds a Doctor of Musical Arts degree in Bassoon Performance and Pedagogy from the University of Iowa. She is also a graduate of Boston University’s College of Fine Arts and Eastern Washington University. Her principal teachers include Benjamin Coelho, Matthew Ruggiero, and Lynne Feller-Marshall.