Introduced to the bassoon through the public school music programs in Massapequa, New York, Frank Morelli studied with Stephen Maxym at the Manhattan and Juilliard Schools of Music, and was the first bassoonist to be awarded a doctorate by the Juilliard School.
     Frank Morelli has made nine appearances as soloist in Carnegie Hall. The Miami Herald has hailed his "breathtaking virtuosity" and the Toronto Globe and Mail proclaimed his performance: "the kind of Mozart even the most tireless concert goer is lucky to hear once a year."
     Frank Morelli recently released two solo CDs on MSR Classics: Bassoon Brasileiro, which includes performances with Orpheus and Baroque Fireworks. The magazine, Gramophone proclaimed “Morelli's playing is a joy to behold.” The American Record Guide stated: “the bassoon playing on this recording is a good as it gets.” Of his recording of the Mozart Bassoon Concerto with Orpheus on the DG record label, Gramophone Magazine noted the "delicacy of articulation and colouring, [and] the lyrical warmth of the Andante." Fanfare Magazine added that this recording "reset a reviewer's standards at too high a level for comfort in a world more productive of ordinary music making." The Orpheus CD "Shadow Dances," which features Frank Morelli, won a 2001 Grammy Award.
     A prolific chamber musician, Frank Morelli has appeared with the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center on numerous occasions, including at the Whitehouse for the final State Dinner of the Clinton Presidency. He is a member of the Festival Chamber Music and Windscape, an ensemble in residence at the Manhattan School of Music.
     Chosen to succeed his teacher, Stephen Maxym, Mr. Morelli serves on the faculties of the Juilliard School, the Yale and Manhattan Schools of Music, as well as the SUNY Stony Brook faculty. He is editor of Stravinsky: Difficult Passages for Bassoon, published by Boosey & Hawkes, and has several transcriptions for bassoon and woodwind quintet to his credit, published by Trevco Music.