Dr. Yueh Chou is dedicated to inspiring a passion for classical music in the younger generation. Her teaching style includes musical phrasing, tone production, clean finger technique and performance practices of various musical styles and time periods. She has been on faculty at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music Pre-College Division since 2001, teaching both bassoon and chamber music. Dr. Chou was appointed at San José State University in 2011, serving as the bassoon professor for 12 years. She has been a chamber music coach for Summer Music West at SFCM, and Sequoia Chamber Music at Humboldt State University. Dr. Chou is the founder and director of Bassoon Academy West, her private studio. Annually, on average, one fourth of All State Honor Band bassoon players are from her studio. Her students also win concerto competitions and participate in various youth orchestras from San Jose to San Francisco. She launches the summer program “West Coast Bassoon Camp” in Seattle in 2025.
Dr. Chou has an extensive and varied performance career. She premiered the solo bassoon pieces Under the Open Sky by Veronika Krausas (Los Angeles) and Group on a Row the Same by Lou Harrison (Santa Cruz). She has performed in Den Haag and Amsterdam (Muziekgebouw aan’t IJ) in the Netherlands, Geel and Chimay (Theatre du Chateau) in Belgium, Lincoln Center, Carnegie Hall, and the Kennedy Center in the United States, and the National Concert Hall in Taiwan. In the past, she has performed with various local orchestras including San Jose Opera, Oakland Symphony and Santa Rosa Symphony.
Dr. Chou holds a Bachelor’s degree in Music Performance from the Juilliard School and has obtained both Masters and Doctorate degrees in Music Performance (with minors in Baroque Bassoon and Music Education) from the University of Southern California. She also earned a Certificate Diploma in Period Bassoons at the Koninklijk Conservatorium in Den Haag, the Netherlands.