Martin Garcia

Martin Garcia is the associate principal bassoonist of the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra. A former member of the Milwaukee Symphony and the Chamber Orchestra of Philadelphia, he was an active freelancer in the Philadelphia area and has been heard in concert with many of that region's groups, including the Philadelphia Orchestra (at the Kimmel Center, Saratoga Performing Arts Center, and the Bravo! Vail Festival). His most recent appearance with the Philadelphia Orchestra was as guest principal bassoonist in May 2025; he has enjoyed a longstanding association as a first-call substitute musician with the Fabulous Philadelphians that has spanned twenty-five years. 

His primary studies were with Bernard Garfield at the Curtis Institute of Music, Milan Turkovic at the Universität für Musik und Darstellende Kunst in Vienna (Fulbright grant, U.S. State Department), and William Winstead at the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory (under the auspices of an Albert C. Yates fellowship). He undertook further advanced study with Daniel Matsukawa and credits him as a major influence on his career.

With the Cincinnati Symphony, he has played concerts on tour in Japan, New York, and as acting principal bassoonist in China, Hong Kong, and Europe in 2017. A dedicated educator, he is past faculty for Temple University's Music Preparatory Department, "Summerfest" at the Curtis Institute of Music, and has given masterclasses or coachings at Indiana University, the Oberlin Conservatory, Wright State University, and the Central Conservatory in Beijing, China. In 2021, he represented the Curtis Institute and the Cincinnati Symphony as inaugural faculty for OAcademy, a digital orchestral academy serving young musicians in twenty countries of the Americas; he was invited to return in 2022. More recently, he was an invited panelist, teacher, and mentor for the National Alliance for Audition Support of the Sphinx Organization hosted by the New World Symphony in Miami (June 2026).  

He has participated in the festivals of Sarasota, Evian, Verbier, Vienna Modern, Lakes Area (MN), Mainly Mozart, and Marlboro Music. He appears regularly on the chamber music series of the Cincinnati Symphony, with the Cincinnati new-music group concert nova, and has appeared on the Linton Chamber Music Series. Outside of Cincinnati, he occasionally concertizes and records with the New York-based chamber orchestra, The Knights. With them, he has appeared in concert in New York's Central Park, at the Ravinia and Tanglewood Festivals, as well as on international tours of Ireland and Germany. His latest release with The Knights was an album of the Brahms and Beethoven concerti with violinist Gil Shaham, which was nominated for a Grammy.

Garcia joined the faculty at CCM in 2018 at the invitation of William Winstead and now teaches alongside fellow CCM alum and Cincinnati Symphony principal bassoonist Christopher Sales. Recent alumni of the CCM bassoon studio have gone on to represent the school favorably by winning orchestral auditions (Mississippi Symphony, Minnesota Opera Orchestra, New Mexico Symphony), military band positions (U.S. Pacific Fleet Band, Central Band of the Canadian Armed Forces), as competitors in major competitions (a semifinalist in the 2025 Meg Quigley Competition, as well as the only American-trained finalist in the 2024 Gillet competition of the International Double Reed Society), as presenters and recitalists at the IDRS conference, and as college, high school, and elementary music educators (the University of North Texas, Western Illinois University). Other CCM bassoonists have gone on to further study in schools like the Boston Conservatory, DePaul University, and McGill University and have participated in the music festivals of Kent Blossom, the Monteux School, Taneycomo, and Opera in the Ozarks. 

In addition to teaching bassoon and coaching chamber music, Garcia also organizes the Winstead Competition for Artistry in Wind Playing, a cash-prize competition underwritten by the estate of William Winstead which is open to flute, oboe, clarinet, bassoon and horn players at CCM, now entering its sixth year. 
 

BM: The Curtis Institute of Music

MM: University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music (Albert C. Yates Fellowship)

Fulbright grant : The University of Vienna