Caroline Giassi was born and raised in New York City where she began her musical training at a very early age on a Cracker Jack box as a violin. She eventually graduated to a real, wooden instrument and later switched to the oboe. While pursuing her undergraduate degree in oboe performance at the University of Michigan, Caroline also earned a degree in comparative literature which fostered in her a love of approaching material in its original context and language. This naturally led her to the world of performance practice and historical oboes.

As a freelance musician, Caroline enjoys a variety of opportunities to both perform and teach across the country. This season’s highlights include Albinoni and Vivaldi concerto performances with Museum Concerts of Rhode Island (Providence, RI), Beethoven’s rarely heard opera Leonore with Opera Lafayette (Washington D.C), and a chamber concert with Chatham Baroque (Pittsburgh, PA). For the first time, Caroline is organizing her own concert in Elmira, NY and is very much looking forward to sharing her love of historical performance as well as her colleague’s musical talents with her local community. She is also thrilled to be joining New York State Baroque, The Sebastians, Pegasus Early Music, and Early Music New York again this season.

In addition to performing, Caroline is also a dedicated educator and works with students of all ages. As a teaching artist for S’Cool Sounds, a NYC based music education program, she teaches classroom recorder and ensemble skills to 2nd graders in Brooklyn, NY. She is also a continuing guest artist at the University of Michigan where she works with undergraduate through doctoral students to teach baroque oboe and coach performance practice. This year, Caroline also has residencies at Louisiana State University, University of Missouri – Kansas City, and the University of Kansas.