R.E.H.E.A.R.S.E
Dr. Jason Worzbyt
Musician | Conductor | Bassoon Professor
Indiana University of Pennsylvania
Introduction
Dr. Jason Worzbyt is Professor of Bassoon and Director of Adult and Community Bands at Indiana University of Pennsylvania. He holds a B.S. in Music Education from Indiana University of Pennsylvania, a Master of Music in wind conducting from the University of North Texas and a Doctor of Musical Arts degree in bassoon performance from the University of North Texas.
Dr. Worzbyt has studied bassoon with Kathleen Reynolds, principal bassoon of the Dallas Opera Orchestra and professor of bassoon at the University of North Texas; Kristen Wolfe Jensen, professor of bassoon at the University of Texas; David T. Borst, professor emeritus of bassoon at Indiana University of Pennsylvania, and James Rodgers, principal contrabassoon of the Pittsburgh Symphony. His conducting teachers include Jack Stamp, director of band studies at Indiana University of Pennsylvania and Eugene Migliaro Corporon, director of wind studies at the University of North Texas.
Bassoonist and Musician
Dr. Worzbyt has performed, recorded and has been featured as a soloist with wind ensembles and orchestras all across the country. These ensembles include the Keystone Wind Ensemble, IUP Wind Ensemble, North Texas Wind Symphony, North Texas New Music Ensemble, Lexington Philharmonic Orchestra, Johnstown Symphony Orchestra, Highland Wind Quintet and the IUP Faculty Woodwind Quintet.
In 2001, Dr. Worzbyt gave the world premiere of Bruce Yurko’s Concerto for Bassoon and Wind Ensemble with the Keystone Wind Ensemble at the College Band Directors National Association conference. From 2006 to 2009 he was a member of the artist-faculty at the Western Chamber Music Institute hosted by Western State College in Gunnison, Colorado. Additional performances include several recitals at meetings of the International Double Reed Society. In March of 2013, Klavier Records released a compact disc recording (Five in the Sun) by the Keystone Chamber Players of which Dr. Worzbyt is a member.
Most recently, Dr. Worzbyt premiered and recorded Bruce Yurko’s Concerto No. 2 for Bassoon and Wind Orchestra in October of 2014. During his almost 25-year tenure at IUP, he has performed with many of the regional orchestras in western Pennsylvania, including the Johnstown Symphony, Altoona Symphony, Westmoreland Symphony, and Butler Symphony. Currently, he performs as principal bassoonist of the Altoona Symphony.
Dr. Worzbyt has presented multiple clinics on bassoon pedagogy at the Midwest Band and Orchestra Clinic, the American Band College, as well as the state music education associations of Pennsylvania, Maryland, New Jersey, Iowa, South Dakota, Idaho, and Colorado. Additional clinic presentations have included sessions on large ensemble repertoire selection, programming philosophy, conducting pedagogy, and rehearsal techniques.
Professor & Guest Conductor
As a guest conductor, Dr. Worzbyt has worked with elementary, junior high, senior high and professional ensembles in Pennsylvania, New York, New Jersey, Maryland, Virginia, Indiana, and Kentucky. Highlights of these appearances include the Indiana All State Band, Indiana Junior High All State Band, New Jersey All State Symphonic Band, and the PMEA All State Orchestra. From 2007 through 2013, he was music director and conductor of the Westmoreland Symphonic Winds, a professional wind ensemble in residence at Seton Hill University.
He is currently conductor and music director of the Keystone Chamber Winds, a faculty and student chamber ensemble in residence at IUP. Committed to music education in the state of Pennsylvania, Dr. Worzbyt is currently serves as Band Content Area Representative for the Pennsylvania Music Education Association. He formerly served as President and Higher Education Representative of PMEA District 3, and continues to serve this organization as an adjudicator, guest conductor, and clinician. He has also authored several study guides for the Teaching Music Through Performance in Band, Middle School Band and Beginning Band series published by GIA.
Dr. Worzbyt lives in Indiana, PA with his lovely wife Michelle, an ordained Presbyterian minister, and very active 13-year-old son, Christian James.
Degrees
- DMA, University of North Texas
- MM, University of North Texas
- BSEd, Indiana University of Pennsylvania
Courses
- Applied Bassoon
- Student Teaching Observation
- Bassoon Ensemble
- University Band
- Fundamentals of Conducting
- Music Theory
