Principal Bassoon

John Wetherill came to the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra in 1990 from the Denver Symphony Orchestra where he was principal bassoon. He was appointed principal bassoon of the ISO in April 2001. A native of Philadelphia, Wetherill was a student of Sol Schoenbach and John Shamlian. He has also performed as solo bassoon with the Honolulu Symphony and the Ensemble Intercontemporain in Paris, France, and as guest principal bassoon with the Pittsburgh Symphony. Wetherill has also appeared with the Orchestre de Paris, the Orchestra of Radio France and the Metropolitan Opera. In addition to his live orchestral experience, he has recorded chamber music works of Schoenberg and Stravinsky for CBS and Deutsche Grammaphon and various works for Pro Arte with the Denver Symphony Orchestra.

John Wetherill has performed with Suzuki & Friends, the Ronen Chamber Ensemble and the Scott Chamber Players and served on the faculty of the Waterloo Music Festival in New Jersey. The father of two, Wetherill enjoys tennis and golf.

Bassoon

Samuel Banks became a member of the bassoon section of the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra in June 2004. Born in the San Francisco Bay area, Banks began his instrumental career on the clarinet at age 9 and switched to bassoon at age 11. His father, Ridgway Banks, was a composer who studied with Nadia Boulanger and provided early encouragement to Samuel’s pursuit of music.

Samuel Banks earned a B.M. degree from Northwestern University where he studied with Robert Barris. Before coming to Indianapolis, he played with the Chicago Civic Orchestra, where his bassoon coach was Bill Buchman, the Elgin Symphony and as a substitute with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. He won first prize in the Van Waynen Winds Competition and has played with the National Repertory Orchestra, the New York String Orchestra and the Kent-Blossom Music Festival. Away from the Orchestra Banks enjoys cooking, running, playing chamber music and rooting for his beloved Oakland A’s.

Contrabassoon/Assistant Principal Bassoon

Mark Ortwein is a native of Las Vegas, Nevada. He attended Loyola University in New Orleans for two years, majoring in bassoon and jazz saxophone. He earned a B.M. degree from Boston University in bassoon performance, graduating magna cum laude. While there he was the top woodwind finalist for the Boston Pops Concerto Competition. He joined the United States Air Force Band at March Field in California as a saxophonist and later moved to the Air Force Academy where he was principal bassoon of the USAF Band of the Rockies. In 1998 he began his studies with William Winstead at the Cincinnati Conservatory of Music where he earned an M.M. degree. During his career he has performed in a wide variety of musical situations ranging from Carnegie Hall to the Grand Old Opry and MTV. Before joining the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra in 2002, he was a member of the Kentucky Symphony Orchestra, Dayton Philharmonic Woodwind Quintet and the Las Vegas Symphony Orchestra.

Ortwein is a Yamaha Performing Artists and plays all the saxophones, clarinets, flutes and bassoons. His major bassoon teachers have included Winstead, Matthew Ruggiero, Crawford Best, and Jon Beebe. On saxophone he has studied with Paul McGinley, Garvin Bushell, Craig Yancey, Jeff Barash and John Reilly. In June 2003 he was the featured soloist with John Williams and the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra in Williams’ “Escapades for Alto Saxophone and Orchestra.” Ortwein is an active studio musician and records regularly for a wide variety of clients and musical styles. He and his wife, a cellist/educator, are the parents of a son and a daughter.