Alison Wormell (they/them) is a British-Australian bassoonist, currently based in the south of England. They work in the UK, Finland and the Antipodes. Their work spans orchestral performance, chamber music, and interdisciplinary work using solo bassoon performance to tell stories about outdoor experiences both live and on film.
Alison has performed as a bassoonist and contrabassoonist worldwide, including with the most northern and southern professional orchestras. They have played Principal Bassoon with the BBC National Orchestra of Wales, Lapland Chamber Orchestra, Arctic Philharmonic, Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra and Opera Australia Orchestra. Alison has also performed with the London Mozart Players, and the Sydney, Melbourne, Adelaide and New Zealand Symphony Orchestras. They have held multiple lengthy contracts, most recently as Acting Principal Bassoon with the Lapland Chamber Orchestra.
As a soloist Alison has performed Bach with the Lapland Chamber Orchestra and Mozart with the SCM Symphony Orchestra. They were a semi-finalist in the 2021 ROSL International Music Competition, and have commissioned works such as ‘Unto Gray Towards Green’ by Mari Funabashi.
Alison is the producer at Play Outdoors Productions. POP is a film production house and community for underrepresented voices in music and the outdoors. It is funded by the Royal College of Music London’s Accelerate grant scheme. Their mission is to amplify marginalised voices, explore new forms of storytelling, champion new compositions by emerging composers, and increase the accessibility of art music. Their first film Conduits for Joy is about making reeds and bicycle frames and was released in February 2023. It has been shown at the Kendal Mountain Film Festival, London Mountain Film Festival and Sheffield Adventure Film Festival.
Alison completed an Artists Diploma of Performance at the Royal College of Music London in 2022, studying with Joost Bosdijk, Sarah Burnett, and Andrea de Flammineis. They graduated from RCM with a Masters in Performance with Distinction in 2021, and in 2018 was the Sydney Symphony Orchestra Bassoon Fellow.
Updated October 2024
