Bio

Brazilian bassoonist André Januário is an artist-researcher connecting performance, repertoire expansion, and research-informed musical practice. His current artistic projects focus on Brazilian music, chamber music, and the creation of new repertoire for the bassoon.

His recent work centers on Split Reed, his bassoon-and-saxophone duo, through which he develops new arrangements, commissions, and performance projects for this uncommon chamber pairing. In 2026, André’s Brazilian-centered programming will be featured at the International Double Reed Society Conference through a major commission and two premieres. He was named one of six winners of the 2026 International Double Reed Society Commissioning Grant, marking the Society’s 50th anniversary. At the conference, he will premiere Serenata e Maracatu, composed for him by Brazilian composer Gilson Santos, and present his arrangement of Villa Lobos’s Bachianas Brasileiras No. 5 for bassoon and saxophone, dedicated to Split Reed.

André also performs with the Trillium Wind Quintet, a Michigan-based chamber ensemble committed to professional performance, community engagement, and expanding chamber music in the Great Lakes region. As an associate researcher at McGill University’s Input Devices and Music Interaction Laboratory in Montréal, André builds on doctoral studies in Applied Performance Sciences to examine postural mechanics, tone production, visual attention, and music reading literacy. His current eye tracking research supports his broader artistic interest in how musicians perceive, embody, and communicate sound.

He has served as assistant principal bassoonist with the Theatro Municipal do Rio de Janeiro Symphony Orchestra and as principal bassoonist with the Caxias do Sul Symphony Orchestra and the Theatro São Pedro Chamber Orchestra. His performances have been broadcast in Brazil and the United States, and he has performed and lectured internationally at festivals, universities, and cultural institutions. His academic background includes a doctoral degree in music performance, graduate study in the United States and Canada, and earlier musical studies in Brazil, Argentina, and France.