Internationally recognized artist teacher George Sakakeeny has been professor of bassoon at the Eastman School of Music for the past 10 years and held the same position at the Oberlin Conservatory of Music for 27 years. In addition, he has been a member of the artist faculty at the Aspen Music Festival and School. He has held the principal bassoon positions of numerous music festivals, and at Seiji Ozawa’s New Japan Philharmonic, the Opera Company of Boston, ProMusica Orchestra of Columbus, and CityMusic Cleveland Chamber Orchestra. More recently, he has been serving as visiting guest principal bassoon with the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra and acting principal of the Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra.  

Sakakeeny has appeared as a soloist with various orchestras on more than 50 occasions. Three major works for bassoon and orchestra have been composed for him: Libby Larsen's full moon in the city in 2013, Peter Schickele’s Concerto for Bassoon and Orchestra in 1998, and Alexander Blechinger’s Fagottkonzert in 1997.

An internationally sought after pedagogue, Sakakeeny has taught guest master classes at the Paris Conservatory, Rice University, Tokyo University of the Arts, The Juilliard School, and held longer term residencies at the Shanghai Conservatory, the Central Conservatory, The Tianjin Juilliard School, Seoul National University, and Lyon Conservatoire National Supèrieur de Musique et Danse. He served as guest bassoon professor for Venezuela's El Sistema for seven years, and was on the faculty of the Interlochen Arts Academy and Arts Camp for a total of 13 years. He also holds the Guest Professor title of the Central Conservatory of Music in Beijing.

Sakakeeny's numerous solo recordings include Blechinger’s Fagottkonzert, the Villa-Lobos Duo with oboist Alex Klein, and four modern works for bassoon and orchestra, entitled full moon in the city.  These recordings and others are distributed by Spotify, Apple Music, and Naxos. He is the author of the iBook Making Reeds Start to Finish with George Sakakeeny.  

Sakakeeny joins the faculty team of The Tianjin Juilliard School in fall 2026.