Marita Abner
B.A. Swarthmore College
M.M. Yale University

Member of the Orchestra Since 1982

Marita Abner, Bassoon, is also the Principal Bassoonist of the Kansas City Chamber Orchestra. She was the Principal Bassoonist of the Kansas City Camerata during its seven seasons, and has served in that capacity in the Utah Festival Opera Orchestra and the Missouri Symphony Society Orchestra; she performed also in the Kansas City Philharmonic, the Wichita Symphony, and the Stamford Symphony. Abner has played with the Kansas City Chorale and Musica Sacra of Kansas City, among other freelance engagements. She has appeared as a soloist with the Kansas City Symphony, the Kansas City Chamber Orchestra, and the Overland Park Symphony. As a recitalist, she has performed in the faculty series at the UMKC Conservatory of Music and Dance, in the Ruel Joyce Series at Johnson County Community College, and in the Brown Bag Series at Westport Presbyterian. Her chamber music background includes the Kansas City Wind Quintet, the Chamber Music Society of Kansas City, performance at conferences of the International Double Reed Society, and faculty performances at the Kinhaven Music School in Vermont. Abner is the faculty bassoonist at the UMKC Conservatory of Music and Dance, and has taught as well at the Louisiana State University School of Music, the Summer Bassoon Extravaganza at Emory University, and the Kinhaven Music School in Weston, Vermont, as well as privately; she is a former President of the Midwest Double Reed Society. Her formal study was done at the Yale University School of Music (M.M.) and at Swarthmore College (B.A.).