Alanna Pennar-Macfarlane is a professional Bassoonist and Contrabassoonist based in Cardiff and is originally from Clackmannanshire in Scotland.

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Initially self-taught, Alanna had guidance from a Royal Air Force Bassoon player for a short time before receiving formal teaching at 16 years old through the music department at her secondary school, Queen Victoria School (QVS). Her music teacher, David Breingan, encouraged her to attend the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland (RCS) Juniors programme where she received lessons with Janet Bloxwich for two years.

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The opportunity to play in ensembles and orchestras at RCS, which she had not previously experienced, revealed her enthusiasm for a career in music and she auditioned successfully at the Royal Academy of Music (RAM) where she studied with John Orford for four years as well as Robin O'Neill in her fourth year gaining a BMus first class honours degree. She then gained a place to study for her Postgraduate degree at the Royal College of music (RCM) where she studied with Julie Price, Joost Bosdijk, Andrea Di Flammineis and Sarah Burnett. On contrabassoon she studied with David Chatterton, Fraser Gordon and Simon Estell at RAM and learned with Martin Field at RCM.

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Alanna has played with several Youth Programmes including: The National Youth Orchestra of Scotland (NYOS) and the International Youth Philharmonic Orchestra (Yphil) and she has played in venues all over the world, from the Barbican in London to the Carnegie Hall in New York City to the Philharmonic Hall in St. Petersburg.

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As well as youth orchestras, she has had the opportunity to work with several professional orchestras including: the Royal Opera House, the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra, the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra and Britten Sinfonia.

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Since beginning her studies in London, Alanna has played in Masterclasses with prestigious bassoonists from across the world including: Robin O’Neill (Philharmonia), Julie Price (BBC Symphony Orchestra) and Ole Dahl (WDR Symphony Orchestra, Cologne).

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As well as the Bassoon, Alanna has a strong bank of instruments that she can teach. She started her musical career playing the Cornet before starting the Clarinet in primary school. During secondary school and beyond she has studied teaching adding the Saxophone to her teaching repertoire. For the past 3 years Alanna has been studying for an LRAM teaching qualification from RAM and recently achieved a distinction.