Brightmusic Chamber Ensemble

Rodney Ackmann is Associate Professor of Bassoon at the University of Oklahoma, where he is a member of the Oklahoma Wind Quintet and Director of the Sooner Bassooners. He also serves as Principal Bassoonist of the Oklahoma City Philharmonic. Mr. Ackmann previously served as Principal Bassoonist of the Tulsa Philharmonic Orchestra for 22 seasons. Other performance affiliations have included the Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra, Solisti New York, Kansas City Symphony, and the Muisca nel Chiostro, Spoleto and Assisi Music Festivals in Italy.

As guest soloist, Ackmann has appeared with the Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra, Musica Regala and numerous times with the Tulsa Philharmonic. More recently he performed as soloist in the People's Republic of China at the Forbidden City Concert Hall, Beijing, and before an audience of 8,000 at Chongqing University. He has recorded for Chandos, Mark Records, and Enharmonic, and has been heard on NPR's Performance Today.

Mr. Ackmann has performed numerous solo and collaborative recitals at five recent conferences of the International Double Reed Society, both in the United States and abroad. He has also presented pedagogical clinics and performances for the Midwest International Band and Orchestra Clinic and state music educators conferences in Texas, Michigan, Florida, Nevada and Missouri. Mr. Ackmann served as a juror for the final round of the 2012 Meg Quigley Vivaldi International Competition in Stockton, California. Prior to joining the OU faculty, he served as Professor of Bassoon at the University of Missouri, and for seven summers as Visiting Assistant Professor of Bassoon at the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music. Mr. Ackmann's students have won numerous awards in the Music Teachers National Association Competition, in both solo and chamber music categories. His students have also performed in Master classes for annual conferences of the International Double Reed Society and the Midwest Double Reed Society. Mr. Ackmann holds the Bachelor of Music Education, Master of Music and Performer's Certificate from the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music where he studied with Leonard Sharrow and Sidney Rosenberg. He currently serves on the Music Advisory Panel for the Oklahoma Arts Institute, and as First Vice President of the Midwest Double Reed Society.