Dr. Andrea C. Baker serves as Assistant Professor of Bassoon at Western Illinois University, where she maintains an active career as a performer and educator.

An avid chamber musician, Andrea is a founding member of Cirrus Blue, a contemporary woodwind quintet dedicated to commissioning and performing new music. Through Cirrus Blue and its predecessor, Camerata Nova, she has helped commission and premiere more than ten works for flute, oboe, clarinet, saxophone, and bassoon, collaborating with composers including Katherine Pukinskis, Matt Mason, Hong-Da Chin, and Paul Berlinsky. This work has received support from the International Double Reed Society, the Western Illinois University Research Council, and the Western Illinois Performing Arts Society.

Her chamber music work has taken her to festivals and conferences throughout the United States and internationally, including the International Double Reed Society Conference, the College Music Society National Conference, the Illinois Music Educators Conference, the North American Saxophone Alliance Biennial Conference, the Stellenbosch International Chamber Music Festival in South Africa, and the Australasian Double Reed Society Conference in Melbourne, Australia. Her ensembles have also served as ensembles in residence at the 2025 Virginia Tech Woodwind Festival and the 2027 Women Composers Festival of Hartford. In 2026, Andrea and her colleagues presented “Commissioning the Contemporary Woodwind Quintet” at the Chamber Music America National Conference. She also performs with Some Light Reeding, a clarinet and bassoon duo focused on accessibility and equity in woodwind education through workshops, masterclasses, and mentorship. Additionally, Andrea is the co-founder of Forgottonia Chamber Music Festival, which creates opportunities for adult amateur musicians to participate in chamber music through coaching, collaboration, and performance.

At WIU, Andrea performs with the Camerata and Clow Quintets, contributing to the university’s faculty chamber music tradition. She is also the co-founder of Forgottonia Chamber Music Festival for adult amateur musicians to participate in chamber music through coaching, collaboration, and performance. Her chamber music work has taken her to festivals and stages throughout the United States and internationally, including the Stellenbosch International Chamber Music Festival in South Africa and the Australasian Double Reed Society Conference in Melbourne, Australia. She also performs with Some Light Reeding, a clarinet and bassoon duo focused on accessibility and equity in woodwind education through workshops, masterclasses, and mentorship.

A dedicated educator, Andrea teaches bassoon and chamber music at Western Illinois University, where she also serves as Chamber Music Coordinator, Graduate Coordinator, and Applied Area Coordinator. Her teaching emphasizes technical excellence, musicality, collaboration, and professional development, with a particular interest in creating meaningful opportunities for students to engage with contemporary music and chamber performance.

Andrea is principal bassoonist with Opera in the Ozarks and second bassoonist with the Richmond Symphony in Indiana. Her orchestral engagements include performances with the Cincinnati Chamber Orchestra, Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, Asheville Symphony Orchestra, Alabama Symphony, and Chattanooga Symphony, among others. As a soloist, she won the 2021 University of Cincinnati Wind Concerto Competition and the 2017 Boston Woodwind Society Sherman Walt Merit Solo Competition.

She holds a Doctor of Musical Arts from the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music, a Master of Music from New England Conservatory, and a Bachelor of Music from Penn State University. Her principal mentors include William Winstead, Martin Garcia, Christopher Sales, Richard Svoboda, Daryl Durran, and Shirley Curtiss.