Nate Helgeson is one of the West Coast’s leading specialists in historical bassoons. Born into a musical family in Eugene, Oregon (his brother, Aaron Helgeson, and uncle Stephen Gryc are both accomplished composers), Nate studied modern bassoon with Steve Vacchi and Richard Svoboda before taking up the baroque instrument, continuing his studies with Dominic Teresi at the Juilliard School. In addition to solo and orchestral appearances with premier period ensembles across the country, he can be heard on recordings by Apollo’s Fire, Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra, and the Trinity Baroque Orchestra.  Most recently, Nate performed works of Rossini and Bellini on period instruments as part of Teatro Nuovo, a newly formed festival in New York exploring 19th century ‘bel canto’ sounds and performance practices on the opera stage. In 2019 Nate returned to Eugene to serve as interim Professor of Bassoon at the University of Oregon.