Thaïs Bordes
Bassoon
Originally from Toulouse, France, Thaïs began her musical journey with flute, piano, and singing in La Maîtrise du Conservatoire de Toulouse under the direction of Mark Opstad. At the age of 12, she discovered the bassoon and, inspired by its unique sound, decided to pursue it professionally. After obtaining diplomas in bassoon, piano, and music theory in Toulouse, she earned a National Diploma in Music and a State Diploma in Music Education at the Pôle d’Enseignement Supérieur de Musique et de Danse in Bordeaux. She furthered her training at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, completing a Master’s degree in the Orchestral Artistry course. She has been working as a Junior Fellow at the institution since September 2024.
Thaïs has performed with several professional orchestras, including the Orchestre National du Capitole de Toulouse, the Opéra National de Bordeaux, the BBC National Orchestra of Wales, and the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra. She is also a founding member of the CATIL Quintet, formed with her peers at Guildhall, with whom she regularly performs and also leads educational workshops in schools. She is co-founder of the Reed'iculous Two duo with Charis Lai. Alongside performing, she has taught privately throughout her studies and coached young bassoonists during a week-long wind orchestra course in France for several years, focusing on ensemble playing.
In her spare time, Thaïs likes baking and making musical arrangements of different types of repertoire for wind quintet and double-reed ensembles.