About Us
MISSION
Meg Quigley is an organization dedicated to making the bassoon world diverse, equitable, inclusive, and supportive. We serve bassoonists by providing resources, access, opportunity, and strive to eliminate barriers that have prevented the full participation of those impacted by systemic oppression in Classical music and beyond. Through our programs, we create a microcosm of the world we want to see, and empower our community to help create that world.
Interested in helping to further our mission? Become a Friend of Meg Quigley!
WHAT WE DO
The Meg Quigley Vivaldi Competition, which first took place in 2005, it at the heart of our programs. The Competition provides an international competitive experience of the highest caliber for young bassoonists from or studying in the Americas who are cis women, trans women, or non-binary individuals who are comfortable in a space that centers the experiences of women. Although it is a competition with significant monetary prizes, we cultivate a feeling of camaraderie amongst the competitors through professional development training, team-building activities, and mentorship from world-class professionals. The Competition repertoire always includes one concerto by Antonio Vivaldi, but otherwise seeks to expand the canon through showcasing the works of composers from historically-excluded groups.
Since 2010, the Competition has served as the centerpiece of the biennial Meg Quigley Bassoon Symposium. This multi-day event includes performance classes, workshops, concerts, live rounds of the Competition, and more. The Symposium is meant to foster an inclusive and congenial atmosphere of learning and inspiration, and we prioritize providing a balanced representation of identities including gender, race, culture, age, and career trajectory in our selection of performers, presenters, and judges.
Meg Quigley has periodically offered Summer Series webinars and recorded interviews on a variety of topics, from Competition repertoire to self-recording to community and audience engagement, and more. Watch our videos here.
Thanks to some generous donors, Meg Quigley has stewardship of two top-level professional bassoons that the organization loans to serious students who are in need of an instrument.
Venetian composer Antonio Vivaldi (1678-1741) spent much of his prolific career working at a conservatory for young women, the Seminario Musicale dell’Ospitale della Pietá in Venice. He wrote at least 39 concerti for bassoon, some of which may well have been written for virtuosi studying at the Pietá. Vivaldi provided musical inspiration and education to young women centuries ago, and Meg Quigley aims to do the same today
WHY VIVALDI?
WHY MEG QUIGLEY?
Meg Quigley was an artist who had a passion for helping young women realize and reach their full potential. Her family provided the generous financial support needed to start the organization and sustain it through its early years. We aim to carry on Meg Quigley’s spirit of creativity and benefaction through our work.