Alexandra Berndt

Dr. Alexandra Berndt is an active performer and teacher based in the Twin Cities. She joined the South Dakota Symphony Orchestra in 2016 and joined the Chione Quintet in 2018.  A current substitute with the Minnesota Opera and Minnesota Sinfonia, she has previously served as substitute bassoon with the Boston Pops Orchestra, Oratorio Society of Minnesota, Sioux City Symphony Orchestra, Bangor Symphony Orchestra, and the New World Symphony. In addition to maintaining a large private studio, Dr. Berndt is the adjunct bassoon professor at Gustavus Adolphus College.

Dr. Berndt earned her Doctor of Musical Arts degree in Bassoon Performance with a Secondary Emphasis in Music Theory from the University of Minnesota- Twin Cities. She earned her Master of Music in Bassoon Performance from the New England Conservatory of Music in Boston, MA. While in Boston, Dr. Berndt was a member of the Vento Chiaro Wind Quintet.  She earned her Bachelor of Music in Bassoon Performance summa cum laude and with Program Honors in Woodwinds from Northwestern University in Evanston, IL.

A 2010 Tanglewood Music Center Fellow, Dr. Berndt also attended the summer music festivals at the Brevard Music Center and the Banff Music Centre. Her primary teachers include John Miller, Richard Ranti, Suzanne Nelsen, Christopher Millard, Lewis Kirk, and David Seidel.

In her leisure time, she enjoys cooking, reading, traveling, tending to the large vegetable garden, raising monarch caterpillars, and expanding and diversifying the pollinator habitat in the yard.  She lives in Minneapolis with her husband, their son, and their two orange cats.