Consider supporting bassoon students with a contribution to the Albie Micklich and Gregory Leet endowed scholarship.
Albie Micklich and Gregory Leet understand the financial challenges often faced by those pursuing a career in music and are dedicated to fostering the growth of the next generation of bassoonists. To honor Micklich's distinguished career as Professor of Bassoon at ASU, they established the Albie Micklich and Gregory Leet Scholarship for Bassoon. This scholarship seeks to help alleviate financial barriers, empowering aspiring bassoonists to pursue their passion for music and achieve their goals. Micklich began serving as Professor of Bassoon at Arizona State University in 2006, and in 2024, he and his husband, Gregory Leet, established this scholarship to support bassoonists.
Deeply passionate about teaching and student success, Micklich is renowned for preparing his students for successful careers as performers, educators and scholars. His bassoon students have gone on to win premiere orchestral positions throughout the United States, Europe and New Zealand, including the world-renowned Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra. They are also pursuing advanced degrees at esteemed conservatories and universities; teaching at conservatories, universities and public schools; and winning prestigious awards, including the Fulbright Award and the Deutscher Akademischer Austausch Dienst Award (DAAD). One of Micklich’s notable contributions is the creation of a specialized course on bassoon reed making—an essential skill for bassoonists, but one that is rarely offered as a full semester course, even at top-tier music institutions.
A passionate advocate for contemporary music, Micklich regularly premieres new works, records pieces by both established and emerging composers and has contributed to over 40 commissions of original compositions. With a continued dedication to expanding the bassoon repertoire, he published several widely acclaimed arrangements through TrevCo Music Publishing and Potenza Music.
Prior to his tenured position as full professor at ASU, Micklich taught at University of Nebraska-Lincoln, University of Missouri, Indiana University of Pennsylvania and Michigan State University. He received a doctoral degree from Michigan State University, a master’s degree and performance certificate from The Juilliard School and an undergraduate degree from Indiana University of Pennsylvania.
Leet has been a fundraiser and executive advancement leader over the course of a distinguished 30+ year career in higher education and biomedical research. He has been involved in multiple comprehensive fundraising campaigns, including while serving as the vice chancellor for university advancement at the University of California, Irvine (UCI), leading it to become the youngest university to successfully complete a $1-billion campaign. He has served several other highly regarded institutions and organizations, including The Jackson Laboratory, Arizona State University Foundation and Creighton University, where he was the first director of principal gifts. His fundraising career began at Kansas State University Foundation, where he was director of the fundraising campaign for the new Hale Library. As an undergraduate student at Kansas State, he helped launch its first student phonathon in the 1970s.
Leet most recently was a senior consultant with the Aspen Leadership Group, leading executive searches for fundraising and strategic communications positions in higher education, academic medical centers, environmental causes, and arts and culture.
He received his bachelor’s degree from Kansas State University and his master’s degree in nonprofit management at Arizona State University. He has served on the board of the Orange County (CA) Business Council and 1N10 in Phoenix and on the Board of Overseers for the Bushnell Performing Arts Center in Hartford, Connecticut.
The creation of this scholarship is a natural extension of Micklich and Leet’s longstanding commitment to giving back and supporting aspiring young artists—a value that has been central to their personal and professional lives.
Give to the Micklich and Leet Endowed Scholarship
