Our Mission
Bassoons Without Borders is an online bassoon camp dedicated to serving bassoonists of all ages by exposure to artists from around the world, building long-term and successful habits, and exploring new possibilities and ideas. We strive to empower anyone and everyone to achieve their personal goals and connect with mentors in the community. Diversity and inclusion are at the forefront of our mission as we aim to provide equal opportunities to anyone. More than half of our alumni received scholarship support and we are constantly striving to keep attendance costs down. We want to empower our community with the tools and inspiration to succeed, as well as to help define what success means to them individually. Our alumni have gone on to win jobs in the National Arts Center Orchestra and the Seattle and Fort Worth Symphonies. Our students have gone on to study at multiple esteemed institutions within North America as well.
The People Behind BWB
Carin Miller
Bassoons Without Borders Founder and Director
Carin Miller is principal bassoon with the Oregon Symphony, and she previously held principal bassoon positions with the Jacksonville and Shreveport Symphonies. Ms. Miller performs regularly as guest principal bassoon with the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra, as well as the Portland Opera and Oregon Ballet Theater. She recently toured as guest principal bassoon with the Galilee Chamber Orchestra performing in Tel Aviv, Toronto, and New York City’s Carnegie Hall. Ms. Miller enjoys collaborating in Seattle with the Seattle Chamber Music Society and Orca Concert series, as well as locally with Chamber Music Northwest, Amadeus Chamber Orchestra, Third Angle New Music Ensemble, Classical up Close, and 45th Parallel Universe.
Under the umbrella of the Oregon Symphony Sounds of Home series, she recently curated and performed in a chamber music program with commissions from local composers and in conjunction with the Audubon Society of Portland to raise awareness of the impact of climate change. Ms. Miller has had the immense pleasure of performing duets with jazz sensation Wycliffe Gordon as part of her residency coaching with the National Youth Orchestra of Carnegie Hall.
A native of Queens, NY, Ms. Miller holds a BM from the Juilliard School, an MM from Rice University, and an Advanced Certificate from the University of Southern California. Her teachers include Whitney Crockett, Frank Morelli, Stephen Maxym, and Benjamin Kamins. As an educator, she has presented masterclasses for the Shepherd School of Music at Rice University and the Glenn Gould School of the Royal Conservatory, and coaches for the Portland Youth Philharmonic and Wallowa Lake Woodwind Camp. Ms. Miller had the great privilege of serving for a year as visiting Adjunct Associate Professor of Bassoon at Indiana University in 2021-2022, and has served on the board of the Portland Youth Philharmonic. Ms. Miller is currently Adjunct Professor at Portland State University, Pacific University, Lewis and Clark College, and Reed College, as well as curating a private teaching studio from her home in Portland, Oregon.
“I created Bassoons Without Borders for the many hardworking bassoon students who weren’t able to participate in music festivals and camps due to COVID-19. I know how much I grew in the summers through participation in festivals and camps, and I wanted to enable tremendous growth by offering a virtual symposium. In this unique time, when only virtual participation was possible, Bassoons Without Borders served to unite artists from around the world in a common space to share their distinctive perspectives and diverse expertise. I invite you to join me in this unprecedented adventure and embrace the opportunity to transcend the distance between us.”
Samuel Rhoton
Chief Operating Officer
Bassoonist Samuel Rhoton has enjoyed a diverse career as a chamber musician, educator, orchestral musician, and administrator. Originally from Salem Oregon, he has toured internationally in Latin America and across the United States. After a successful audition in 2023, Samuel was appointed principal bassoon of the Portland Opera in Portland Oregon.
In 2017, he served as Associate Principal Bassoon with the National Youth Orchestra of America as they toured Latin America under the direction of Maestra Marin Alsop. The tour began with a performance in Carnegie Hall and with subsequent appearances in Guadalajara, Mexico, Quito, Ecuador, and Bogotá, Colombia. Memorable performances as rotating principal in the Shepherd School of Music’s Symphony and Chamber orchestras, as well as guest performances with the Houston Symphony, Oregon Symphony, and The Opera in the Heights.
Samuel has participated in the Music Academy of the West in Santa Barbra California, the Marrowstone Music Festival in Bellingham, Washington, and the Brevard Music Center in Brevard, North Carolina. Sam has soloed with the Tualatin Valley Symphony and the Oregon ProArte Chamber Orchestra playing the Concerto for Bassoon and Orchestra by Carl Maria von Weber. While at Rice University’s Shepherd School of Music, he enjoyed his performances with his wind quintet, Diatomaceous. The ensemble has presented a wide range of works, including Elliot Carter’s Quintet, Jean Francaix’s Quintet No. 2, and Jean-Michel Damase’s 17 Variations for Wind Quintet.
As an educator, Samuel served as the Teacher’s Assistant to Kathleen McLean while studying at Indiana University. He designed and taught a sixteen-week intensive course centered around teaching reed making. In the summer of 2019, Samuel served as a bassoon faculty member at the Young Musicians and Artists Festival in Salem Oregon.
Samuel is a graduate of the Shepherd School of Music at Rice University. He studied under the tutelage of the Lynette S. Autrey Professor of Bassoon, Benjamin Kamins. Before Rice, Sam studied with William Ludwig, Kathleen McLean, and Carin Miller. He has also extensively studied with the incomparable Ann Kosanovic-Brown, the first female bassoonist to play with the Berlin Philharmonic.