Matthew Melillo is the contrabassoonist of The Florida Orchestra. He has two degrees from Northwestern University, where he studied with David McGill. He has performed in Switzerland and Germany as a member of the Lucerne Festival Contemporary Orchestra, and in Colorado with the National Repertory Orchestra.
He is an early adopter of the Kronwalt, a largely redesigned contrabassoon and the result of a collaboration between German instrument makers Guntram Wolf and Rudolf Walter. He plays the seventh Kronwalt contrabassoon ever made, and was the first to own one in the United States. Matthew is committed to bassoon and contrabassoon pedagogy and enjoys sharing his knowledge of both instruments.
Matthew also plays the piano, harpsichord, accordion, and Hurdy Gurdy. When not making music or reeds, he enjoys cooking, breadmaking, sewing, leatherworking, painting miniatures, 3D printing/modeling, and using fountain pens.