I play on a Heckel Bassoon, #9943 Line art by Evan JudsonTeddyZhang
Teddy Zhang, bassoonist
Bio
I'm a 1st year Master's student at the Colburn School in LA, studying with Richard Beene.
I currently play in the Colburn Orchestra, and have substituted with the San Francisco Symphony and Oregon Symphony.
My previous teachers include Dan MacNeill and Rufus Olivier Jr. during my undergraduate degree at Stanford University, and Carin Miller while growing up in Oregon.
During the pandemic, I hosted Bassoon Zone, a series of free online masterclasses taught by some of my favorite bassoonists; recordings may be found on YouTube.
Recordings
Schreck, Bassoon Sonata. Recorded June 2026.
Fauré, 3 Romances sans paroles: III. Andante Moderato. Recorded December 2025.
Here are some miscellaneous resources that I've created.
needtopractice.com, a free drone tool with lots of options like just intonation, multiple pitches, adjustable frequencies, and a metronome and tuner.
A Sharrow-inspired straight shaper I developed with Kristie Park and Jordan Farber, and produce with Hank Yin. The shape is similar to Herzberg in its narrower American style and how it’s scraped, but it has an intentional asymmetry that supports areas that are typically weak in a Herzberg reed, which helps the reed vibrate properly at dynamic and register extremes. This type of asymmetry was characteristic of hand-finished fold-over shapers used in the 20th century, and we’ve captured it in a more convenient straight shaper through 3D scanning and precision machining.
If you are interested in purchasing one, please contact me!
Computer Science
I completed my BS ('25) in computer science at Stanford University, focusing on computer systems and cybersecurity. During my time, I was an officer in the Stanford Applied Cyber club, and worked as a course assistant for CS 350S (Privacy Preserving Systems) and as a teaching assistant for INTLPOL 268 (Hack Lab)
I've previously worked as a software engineer at JetStream Security, and completed cybersecurity internships at TikTok and Cisco Meraki.
