Kahayla Rapolla (she/her) is an American bassoonist currently based in Portland, Oregon. Her travels throughout the US and Europe led her to the Pacific Northwest, where she now maintains a private studio and reed making business, in addition to freelancing in the surrounding area. 

 

As an orchestral musician, Kahayla has performed with ensembles such as the Eugene Opera, Vancouver Symphony Orchestra, Malmö Symphony Orchestra, Faroe Islands Symphony Orchestra, and the Copenhagen Philharmonic. She has also worked with conductors such as Krzysztof Penderecki, Thomas Søndergård, Sarah Ioannides, and Carl St. Clair. 

 

Kahayla’s accolades include receiving first prize for the First Culture and Arts Festival held by the Association of Chinese Students and Scholars of Denmark. She was also a finalist in the 2022 American Virtuoso International Music Competition. Other accolades include first prize for the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music Woodwind Concerto Competition, which led to her solo performance of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s Bassoon Concerto in B-Flat Major, KV. 191 with the IU Symphony Orchestra. 

 

Other noteworthy performances include “Carl Nielsen og Fløjten”, a 3-day tour in Denmark performing Carl Nielsen’s Flute Concerto with soloist Marianne Thomsen Clement. Kahayla was also a part of an art installation by Los Angeles-based artist Frances Stark, who created a pedagogical version of Mozart’s The Magic Flute featured in the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. 

 

Kahayla earned her BM as a Jacobs Scholar from the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music. She also received her MM while studying in Copenhagen, Denmark at The Royal Danish Academy of Music. Her previous teachers include Sebastian Stevensson, Audun Halvorsen, William Ludwig, Sara Goya, and Paul Curtis. 

 

Outside of performing and teaching, Kahayla enjoys cooking, making coffee, and exploring Oregon.