Cooper Taylor
Cooper Taylor is a senior bassoon performance undergraduate student at Arizona State University. Born in Glendale, Arizona, Cooper began bassoon in 2018 and has since traveled across the country and the world to cultivate his musical knowledge, most notably performing in the 2026 Vienna Summer Music Festival, the 2026 Akropolis Reed Quintet Chamber Music Institute, the 2025 National Music Festival under Jeffery Keesecker, the 2025 Saarburg International Music Festival, the 2023 Music For All Honor Band of America, and the 2022 UNCSA Chamber Music Academy of Southern Germany under Saxton Rose. He also participated in bassoon workshops at the Domaine Forget de Charlevoix in 2026 and Boston University’s Tanglewood Institute (BUTI) in 2023, learning from pedagogues Mathieu Lussier, Nadina Mackie, Martin
Kuuskmann, Lola Descours, and Margaret Phillips. While in high school, Cooper performed in the Phoenix Youth Symphony Orchestras (PYSO) for four years, playing
principal or second bassoon for their large orchestral works and ballets. During his participation in PYSO, Cooper placed third in their concerto competition and received
the opportunity to attend the BUTI festival for free.
At the International Double Reed Society conference in the summer of 2024, Cooper premiered two new works for bassoon quartet, written by Kincaid Rabb and Sergey
Khvorostianov, respectively. He also participated in a performance class hosted by Gina Moore and another by Kristin Wolfe Jensen.
During his time at ASU, Cooper has had the pleasure of performing with the AZ Musicfest Orchestra, the Scottsdale Philharmonic, and ProMusica Arizona Chorale and Orchestra. He has also participated in ASU oerformance classes by Monica Ellis, Mark Dover, Aaron Pergram, and Christopher Witt.
Outside of music, Cooper frequently lifts weights, runs, and reads books. In the Spring of 2024, Cooper ran a Spartan 10k and finished in the top 15 percent of racers. In
January of 2026, he ran the Arizona Rock ‘n’ Roll half-marathon! Cooper is a morning person and loves to be outdoors!