Chicagoland native Chad Taylor is a freelance musician, educator, and repair technician/acoustician. Chad attended Illinois State University, Northern Illinois University, and Minnesota Southeast Tech. His primary teachers on bassoon are Michael Dicker, Douglas Huff, and Amy Rhodes with additonal studies done with Robert Barris, and Michael Trentacosti. Chad has performed with The Illinois Valley Symphony, The Kishwaukee Symphony, The Joliet Symphony, The West Suburban Symphony, and The Symphony of Oak Park, as well as performing with The Downbeat Magazine Jazz Band, James Taylor, The Duke Ellington Orchestra, The Blues Brothers, Koko Taylor, and many other groups in the Chicago area. As a technician Chad studied instrument repair at Minnesota Southeast Tech where he received his degree. His primary repair teachers were Ken Cance for woodwind repair, and Gene Beckwith for bassoon repair. Chad also apprenticed bassoon repair under the world renowned technician/acoustician James Keyes, with further studies augmented by L Hugh Cooper, Chip Owen, and Bernd Moosmann. Chad has served as a technical consultant in the US for Josef Puchner (Germany), and Bernd Moosmann (Germany) and has presented clinics and masterclasses for acoustics, repair, and performance at Northern Illinois University, Southern Illinois University-Carbondale, Southern Illinois University-Edwardsville, Minnesota Southeast Tech, University of Oklahoma, and Ohio University. Chad has done work for many of the of finest musicians around the world, they include members of the New York Philharmonic, The Juilliard School, Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra and The Chicago Symphony Orchestra.
Chad has spent his career studying the mechanical and acoustical designs of all the makes and models of bassoons and learning what makes them so special but also where their inferiorities lie. It is his belief that even with modern technology, and advancements in the creation of the instrument that no instrument achieves its optimum right out of the case. Too many times an instrument arrives leaky, and not properly tuned and voiced for a players reed style. It is only through the player and technician working together does an instrument go from simply a musical instrument, to an artistic tool that is a natural extension of the musician to express themself with in whatever the musical application they play in. It is Chad’s goal to share his knowledge and bridge the gap between the instrument and its player.
Chad E Taylor 