Elise Wagner has been a member of the Houston Symphony bassoon section since September 2008. She also performs with the Strings Music Festival in Steamboat Springs, Colorado. She has performed with the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, Toronto Symphony, Wheeling Symphony, Sarasota Opera Orchestra, and Lake Tahoe Music Festival. She was also awarded fellowships to the Tanglewood Music Center and the Aspen Music Festival.
When performing outside of the orchestra, Wagner is an advocate for modern music and a chamber musician. Wagner was part of the world premiere of “Who am I?”, a composition commissioned by the Foundation for Modern Music in March 2013. Following the premiere performance in Houston, she also performed the work at La Mama Theater in New York City in February 2014. As an active chamber musician, Wagner performs regularly with the Greenbriar Consortium and the St. Cecelia Chamber Music Series.
In addition to her performance schedule, Wagner is a faculty member at the University of Houston, the Texas Music Festival, and the American Festival for the Arts. When not playing bassoon, she can be found biking, running, on the golf course, or making reeds.
A native of Monroe, Wisconsin, Wagner earned her master’s degree at Carnegie Mellon University where she studied with Nancy Goeres, principal bassoon of the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra. She earned her bachelor’s degree at Temple University under the instruction of Daniel Matsukawa, principal bassoon of the Philadelphia Orchestra.