Eastman’s Professor of Bassoon, George Sakakeeny, will serve as principal bassoonist for the Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra’s 2025-26 season. This exciting opportunity allows Sakakeeny to appear as a soloist with the orchestra, while taking a sabbatical from Eastman for the 2025-26 academic year. He will return full-time to the Eastman faculty in fall 2026, bringing valuable insights into current orchestra repertoire and practices.
Eastman is pleased to announce that Kim Laskowski, who recently retired as Associate Principal Bassoon of the New York Philharmonic, will serve as Visiting Professor of Bassoon during Sakakeeny’s sabbatical. On the faculty at both The Juilliard School and the Manhattan School of Music, Laskowski will teach Eastman’s bassoon students for the academic year beginning in fall 2025.
“I’m delighted beyond measure that while I am on leave my students will have the opportunity to work with Kim Laskowski, one of the finest artist teachers of the bassoon of our time,” George Sakakeeny states. “In the past Kim has taught many of my former students in grad school at Juilliard to great effect. Our current and incoming bassoonists are in for a great experience!”
“I am so pleased to have the opportunity to teach for a full academic year at the Eastman School of Music,” shares Laskowski. “I look forward to working with bassoon students and building upon the lessons taught by Professor Sakakeeny.”
“We are thrilled that George will have the opportunity to bring his wonderful musicianship to the Fort Worth Symphony’s 2025-2026 season,” states Joan and Martin Messinger Dean Kate Sheeran. “We look forward to welcoming him back in the fall of 2026, and we are very fortunate to have the renowned performer and educator Kim Laskowski joining us while he is away. Bassoon students, both current and incoming, will be lucky indeed to be able to learn from two of the country’s top bassoonists.”
Media only: Jessica Kaufman, Executive Director of Marketing & Communications, (585) 278-4743, jkaufman@esm.rochester.edu
###
About Kim Laskowski:
Born in Brooklyn, Kim Laskowski attended the High School of Music and Art and the Juilliard School, where she studied with Harold Goltzer, former Associate Principal Bassoon of the New York Philharmonic. While at Juilliard she won the Walter and Elsie Naumburg Award for Orchestral Excellence. She completed a master’s degree at Juilliard while playing in the National Orchestral Association and has also participated in the Tanglewood and Spoleto festivals. A recipient of a Fulbright grant for foreign study, she attended the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Paris, where she was a student of Maurice Allard. While at the Conservatoire, she toured Europe as a member of the Orchestre des Prix. As an active player on the New York musical scene, Laskowski has appeared with ensembles such as the Orchestra of St. Luke’s, American Symphony Orchestra, and Eos Orchestra. She can be heard on numerous television, radio, CDs, and film scores. She holds two platinum records for CDs recorded with the rock group 10, 000 Maniacs. As a chamber player, she has performed and recorded several CDs with Music Amici in classical, jazz, and 20th-century works for mixed ensembles.
In 2003, she joined the New York Philharmonic as Associate Principal Bassoon and held the position for 20 years before retiring in September 2023. Before joining the joining the Philharmonic, Laskowski played second bassoon in the New York City Ballet Orchestra. She was also principal bassoon of the Mostly Mozart Festival Orchestra from 1999 to 2003.
Kim Laskowski performs regularly as a chamber musician and soloist around the world. She has participated in the Aspen Music Festival, the Bowdoin Festival, and the Benefaio Festival. She has been invited to give master classes in Frankfurt, Monte Video Uruguay, University of Southern California, Taiwan, and China. She has been a guest teaching artist at New World Symphony and the Sphinx Organization. She is on the faculty of the Juilliard School and the Manhattan School of Music. Kim Laskowski resides in Manhattan and Patmos, Greece.
About Eastman School of Music:
The Eastman School of Music was founded in 1921 by industrialist and philanthropist George Eastman (1854-1932), founder of Eastman Kodak Company. It was the first professional school of the University of Rochester. Mr. Eastman’s dream was that his school would provide a broad education in the liberal arts as well as superb musical training.
More than 900 students are enrolled in the Collegiate Division of the Eastman School of Music—about 500 undergraduates and 400 graduate students. They come from almost every state, and approximately 23 percent are from other countries. They are taught by a faculty comprising more than 170 highly regarded performers, composers, conductors, scholars and educators. They are Pulitzer Prize winners, GRAMMY winners, Emmy winners, Guggenheim fellows, ASCAP Award recipients, published authors, recording artists and acclaimed musicians who have performed in the world’s greatest concert halls. Each year, Eastman’s students, faculty members and guest artists present more than 900 concerts to the Rochester community. Additionally, more than 1,700 members of the Rochester community, from young children through senior citizens, are enrolled in the Eastman Community Music School.
About the University of Rochester:
The University of Rochester is one of the nation’s leading private research universities, one of only 62-member institutions in the Association of American Universities. Located in Rochester, N.Y., the University gives undergraduates exceptional opportunities for interdisciplinary study and close collaboration with faculty through its unique cluster-based curriculum. Its College, School of Arts and Sciences, and Hajim School of Engineering and Applied Sciences are complemented by the Eastman School of Music, Simon School of Business, Warner School of Education, Laboratory for Laser Energetics, School of Medicine and Dentistry, School of Nursing, Eastman Institute for Oral Health, and the Memorial Art Gallery.