Beverly McChesney, Bassoon

Beverly is an artist who emerged from the influence of many different genres of music from classical symphony, opera and ballet to Broadway musicals to  rock, R&B, Motown and music of the avant-garde. Her story as an artist is about a love of many different styles of music, great respect and admiration for other musical artists, a strong sense of optimism about the importance of music in our daily life and a passionate desire to communicate and bring joy to the listener. She believes that her value as an artist is in her ability to speak to people through her words and music in a personal way whether it is for laughter, education or artistic enjoyment.

Beverly McChesney is the owner/manager of McChamberMusic and has been teaching and performing in chamber music groups and orchestras in the San Francisco Bay Area for over 30 years. She has a Bachelor of Music degree from the San Francisco Conservatory of Music.
 

During the 1970s, Beverly toured Northern California with the Westwind Trio, performing chamber music with modern dance in grange halls, museums, art festivals and even the Sundown Café in Boonville while sitting on bales of hay.

In the 1980s and 1990s, Beverly played in musical theater orchestras including Annie Get Your Gun starring Debbie Reynolds, A Chorus Line, Linda Ronstadt with Nelson Riddle, Zorba starring Anthony Quinn, My Fair Lady starring Richard Chamberlain, Peter Pan starring Cathy Rigby, and Camelot starring Robert Goulet .  She played in orchestras for musicals with the San Jose Civic Light Opera and in orchestras with Linda Ronstadt, Gladys Knight, Bobby McFerrin, Nelson Riddle, Bill Conti, The Irish Tenors and The Moody Blues.

Beverly currently plays principal bassoon with the North State Symphony.  Over the years, Beverly has performed with nearly every orchestra in the San Francisco Bay Area including San Francisco Opera orchestra, Merola Opera orchestra, San Francisco Ballet orchestra, San Jose Symphony, Oakland Symphony, Berkeley Symphony, Santa Rosa Symphony and Fremont Symphony.

She is a founding member and the bassoonist of the Bellavente Wind Quintet, which was selected by the San Francisco Symphony to represent the woodwind quintet in both the 2005 & 2007 Adventures in Music programs, performing educational concerts for San Francisco schoolchildren.   She was a founding member of the Women’s Philharmonic Woodwind Quintet and was a member of the Twin Pines Woodwind Quintet from 1983 to 1998. The TPWQ performed over 1000 concerts for children in the San Francisco Bay Area under the auspices of the San Francisco Symphony Adventures in Music program, the San Mateo County Arts Council, Young Audiences and numerous other concert promoters.

In 1996, Beverly founded The Moon Town Schmatts, Bassoons of Distinction, Not Your Everyday Bassoon Ensemble with co-founder and contra-bassoonist Mia Stormer. This ensemble features Beverly and Mia’s arrangements of popular songs for the purpose of raising awareness of the importance of the bassoon in your everyday life.

Beverly maintains a private teaching studio where her students benefit from her wealth of experience as a teacher and performer and her dedication to the art of bassoon playing.
 

Beverly performs on a Heckel #8362 bassoon and a Moosman 222A Artist model bassoon.