Cayla Bellamy

Contact Information

Role: Faculty

Position: Associate Professor of Music; Coordinator of Woodwinds

Biography

Dr. Cayla Bellamy is a performer, collaborator, and pedagogue dedicated to advancing the music field through redefining standard practices in the bassoon studio and chamber ensemble settings.  She currently serves as Assistant Professor of Bassoon at Colorado State University, where she teaches applied bassoon, chamber music, and instrumental and virtual pedagogy, in addition to performing regularly with the Colorado Bach Ensemble and Pro Musica Colorado Chamber Orchestra. As a bassoonist and advocate for new music, she most recently completed a performance series presenting modern concerti by Joan Tower, Libby Larsen, James Stephenson, Mathieu Lussier, and Dana Wilson.  

Cayla’s contemporary music ventures extend beyond large ensemble works, and she was a recipient of a 2022 New Music USA Creator Fund alongside CSU colleague Dr. Megan Lanz, which has funded the commission of The Ghosts That Haunt Us for flute/alto flute and bassoon/contrabassoon by Canadian composer Frank Horvat. Additional commissions for this year include works by Jalen Jamal Thompson (for distorted bassoon and fixed electronics) and Kevin Poelking (for flute, bassoon, and piano). Cayla’s debut album, Double or Nothing (2018), consists of premiere recordings for solo and duo bassoon and is available through the Mark Masters label on iTunes, Amazon, and Spotify. Recordings from this album earned her first honorable mention in the 2020 Ernst Bacon Prize for the Performance of American Music, and she is currently recording her second project, a collection of new compositions for bassoon titled American Bassoon Voices. Live recital recordings from this album’s collection have earned her semi-finalist status in the 2023 American Prize for Instrumental Performance. 

Cayla holds a Doctor of Music degree in Bassoon Performance and Literature from the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music, in addition to Bachelor and Master of Music degrees in Music Education and Bassoon Performance from the University of Georgia, where she was distinguished as a National Presser Scholar. Her primary teachers include William Ludwig, Amy Pollard, and William Davis, with additional studies with Nancy Goeres and Per Hannevold at the Aspen Music Festival and School. In addition to professional affiliations with the National Association for Music Education, College Music Society, and as state chairperson for the National Association of Wind and Percussion Instructors, she serves currently on the staff of the International Double Reed Society as Communications Coordinator and was previously on the conducting faculties of the New York Summer School of the Arts and Emory Youth Symphony Orchestra. 

Offstage, Cayla is an amateur endurance athlete with academic research focusing on coaching methodologies, burnout, and the intersections of artistic and athletic training. Learn more at www.caylabellamy.com. 

Education

Doctor of Music - Bassoon Performance and Literature, Indiana University Jacobs School of Music; Master of Music - Music Education and Bassoon Performance, University of Georgia; Bachelor of Music - Music Education and Bassoon Performance, University of Georgia

Publications

Albums:

  • American Bassoon Voices (ant. 2024) - commercial album in progress, premiere recordings of American solo bassoon repertoire
  • Double or Nothing (2017) - commercial album, premiere recordings for solo and duo bassoon
  • Millennium Canons (2009) - ensemble album, contemporary American band works
Articles: Methods:

Courses

Applied Bassoon

Private and group lessons for study of performance, pedagogy, and career development in the bassoon. This course includes one individual lesson, one studio masterclass, and one reed workshop class each week.

Chamber Music

Coaching of undergraduate and graduate level chamber music, which may include side-by-side rehearsals and performances with the instructor. This course meets twice weekly and may involve placement in woodwind-specific or mixed instrumentation ensembles of three to six players.

Woodwind Techniques

Group methods class for the instruction and basic performance of flute, oboe, clarinet, saxophone, and bassoon for music education majors. This course covers instrument assembly and care, tone production, articulation, intonation, and dynamic fundamentals on each woodwind instrument as necessary to teach instrumental secondary music.