Rob Weir received his early music training on piano and bassoon in his native Canada. He was awarded a Canada Council Arts Grant to continue his studies at the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia. His teacher was Bernard Garfield, principal bassoonist of the Philadelphia Orchestra. After leaving Curtis, Rob moved to San Francisco, where he enjoyed a rich and varied musical life. He played with virtually every musical organization in the Bay Area over a period of ten years and was a member of various orchestras and chamber music ensembles. After a series of one year contracts beginning in 1987 he accepted a permanent position in the bassoon section of the San Francisco Symphony in 1991. Following a 3-year medical leave from the orchestra due to an injury, Rob will happily return to his position in the spring of 2008. Rob has been the bassoon coach for the San Francisco Symphony Youth Orchestra and has served on the faculties of the University of California Santa Cruz, UC Berkeley, the University of Victoria, and the San Francisco Conservatory of Music. In 2006 Rob was invited by the Youth Orchestra of the Americas to help prepare the bassoon section during their residency in Venezuela and again in Brussels in 2007. He is excited to have been once again asked to return for the 2008 session in Brazil and is looking forward to another wonderful experience with the Y OA. Rob currently resides on a small island off the coast of British Columbia in Canada with his wife, the flutist Barbara Chaffe, and their two children Keziah and Jacob, Border terrier Elsie and Russian tortoise Rose.