Whitney Crockett

Whitney Crockett joined the Los Angeles Philharmonic as principal bassoon in April as Gustavo Dudamel’s first appointment. He came to Los Angeles after 12 years as principal bassoon of the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra under James Levine. Prior to his work in New York, Crockett held the same position with the Montreal Symphony Orchestra. Earlier in his career, he held principal bassoon positions with the Florida Orchestra, the South Florida Symphony and the Orquesta Sinfónica Nacionál of the Dominican Republic.

As a soloist, Crockett has appeared with the Los Angeles Philharmonic, the Montreal Symphony Orchestra, the Florida Orchestra, the Yamagata Symphony Orchestra, the Bellingham Festival Orchestra, the Mainly Mozart Orchestra and Les Violons du Roy. He has performed regularly on the MET Chamber Players series at Carnegie Hall, and he has recorded, performed and toured extensively with the New York Kammermusiker double reed ensemble. In past summers Crockett has performed with the Super World Orchestra of the Tokyo Music Festival, as well as at the Affinis Music Festival (Japan), the Bellingham Festival of Music, Instrumenta Oaxaca in Mexico and the San Diego Mainly Mozart Festival. He has also appeared at the Santa Fe, Caramoor, Bridgehampton and Cape Cod chamber music festivals.

Over the last several years, he has served as principal bassoon on the recordings and broadcasts of the All-Star Orchestra. In September 2019, he participated in a tour throughout Australia with his colleagues in the LA Philharmonic wind quintet. During that time, he also served as guest faculty at the Australia National Academy of Music. A respected pedagogue, Crockett has served on the faculties of the Juilliard and Manhattan schools of music (1998–2009), as well as McGill University in Montreal (1992–1998).

He has given master classes at numerous institutions, including the Domaine Forget in Québec, the Curtis Institute, the Colburn School, the Puerto Rico Conservatory and many universities across the United States, Asia and Australia. This past summer Crockett served as a judge for the newly established woodwinds division of the Tchaikovsky International competition. Crockett began his tenure with the faculty of Lynn University in the fall of 2020.