Kara LaMoure approaches her work as a bassoonist from many angles–as a performer, educator, creative, and chamber music specialist.
LaMoure is a founding member of the Breaking Winds Bassoon Quartet, a comedic crossover group known for their web presence and their following among young musicians. With the Breaking Winds, she has been a featured artist at the Beijing International Bassoon Festival, the International Double Reed Society conferences in New York, Tokyo, Granada, and Bangkok, and with community bands across the United States. The Breaking Winds have performed as concerto soloists with the West Point Band, Yale Concert Band, Northshore Concert Band, and the Eastman Wind Ensemble.
As an orchestral musician, LaMoure has performed with the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra and the Civic Orchestra of Chicago, and she can be heard on the original soundtrack to The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug. She also takes interest in global youth orchestra movements and has served as a coach for the Verbier Festival Junior Orchestra (Switzerland), YOA Honduras, Esperanza Azteca (Mexico), and Bahia Orchestra Project (Brazil).
LaMoure is a prolific arranger of chamber music for winds, and a selection of her arrangements and transcriptions for bassoon quartet are published by TrevCo Music Publishing. Her interest in the creation and curation of music has led to premieres of works for solo bassoon by Akshaya Avril Tucker and Adeliia Faizullina.
LaMoure earned degrees from the Eastman School of Music, where she studied under John Hunt, and Northwestern University, where she studied under Christopher Millard. She also holds certificates in arts leadership from the Eastman School of Music and the Global Leaders Program. She is currently an instructor in Eastman’s cutting-edge Institute for Music Leadership. LaMoure lives in New York City, and between performances, she can probably be found exploring her neighborhood on foot, dabbling in visual art, or listening to podcasts.