As both an artist and educator, bassoonist Nanci Belmont is driven by the desire to inspire meaningful conversation and relevant musical experiences. Praised as "outstanding" by the New York Classical Review, she is the Second Prize winner of the 2016 Fernand Gillet-Hugo Fox Competition of the International Double Reed Society and a Leitzinger Bassoons Performing Artist. Nanci is an active solo, chamber, and orchestral musician, as well as a member of The City of Tomorrow, a wind quintet with a fearless aesthetic and dedication to the expansion and performance of contemporary repertoire. She has performed with the International Contemporary Ensemble and Talea Ensemble, and has appeared with the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, New York City Ballet Orchestra, Charleston Symphony, and Louisiana Philharmonic. From 2012-14 she was a fellow of Ensemble Connect - a Program of Carnegie Hall, The Juilliard School, and the Weill Music Institute, and has taken part in numerous performances in community venues and public schools. Nanci is Assistant Professor of Bassoon at Lousiana State University, and in the summer teaches at the Mostly Modern Festival in Saratoga Springs, NY and the Trentino Music Festival in Italy.