Dr. Atao Liu is a New York–based bassoonist and teaching artist recognized for her dynamic orchestral and chamber performances across a wide range of repertoire. Her work spans early music, symphonic, and operatic settings, with appearances including the Bach Festival Orchestra of Bethlehem, American Symphony Orchestra, American Ballet Theatre, New Jersey Symphony, and the Syracuse Orchestra. Her operatic credits include collaborations with Berkshire Opera Festival, Heartbeat Opera, New Rochelle Opera, and The Little Opera Theatre of New York.

An active chamber musician, Dr. Liu serves as an artist-in-residence at the Caroga Lake Music Festival and collaborates with ensembles including North/South Consonance Ensemble, Parlando, and Orchestra Q. She is also a member of the Manhattan Fagotistas Bassoon Ensemble.

Internationally, she toured China and the United States with the National Center for the Performing Arts (NCPA) Orchestra of China and has collaborated with the Beijing Symphony. Most recently, she toured the Philippines and Taiwan with the Children’s Orchestra Society and served on the faculty of the First Bohol International Youth Orchestra Festival. Dr. Liu is on the faculty of the Bloomingdale School of Music and the Manhattan School of Music Precollege Division and is also an accomplished reed maker, crafting high-quality bassoon reeds for students and professionals alike.

She holds degrees from the Manhattan School of Music (BM), The Juilliard School (MM), and Stony Brook University (DMA), where her principal teachers included Jun Zhu, Carolyn Beck, Kim Laskowski, and Frank Morelli.