Biography
Dr. Cayla Bellamy-Lanz 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 Associate 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 serving as Music Director of the Health and Wellness Community Orchestra of Northern Colorado.
As a bassoonist and advocate for new music, Cayla began a performance series in 2019 to present modern concerti by Joan Tower, Libby Larsen, James Stephenson, Mathieu Lussier, and Dana Wilson. This series concluded in the 2023-2024 academic year with Jerod Impichchaachaaha' Tate’s Ghost of the White Deer, Jenni Brandon’s Orion Double Concerto for oboe, bassoon, and band, and a featured gala performance at the International Double Reed Society global conference of Joan Tower's Red Maple.
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 Bellamy-Lanz, which has funded the commission of The Spirits That Haunt Us for flute/alto flute and bassoon/contrabassoon by Canadian composer Frank Horvat. They have recently commissioned five new chamber works for flute and bassoon by Noelia Escalzo, Theresa Martin, Kincaid Rabb, Amber Sheeran, Asha Srinivasan. Her 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 her second project, a collection of new compositions for bassoon titled American Bassoon Voices, released fall 2023. Live recital recordings from this album’s collection First Honorable Mentions in the 2023 American Prizes for Instrumental Performance and the Performance of American Music.
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, 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 National Association of Wind and Percussion Instructors, she serves currently on the staff of the International Double Reed Society as Communications Coordinator and previously on the conducting faculties of the New York Summer School of the Arts and Emory Youth Symphony Orchestra.
Cayla is also the co-founder of SoundCraftEd, an organization creating educational and performance materials for all musicians. Offstage, she is an amateur endurance athlete with academic research focusing on coaching methodologies, burnout, and the intersections of artistic and athletic training.