Bassoonist Sergio Azzolini is one of Europe's most prominent performers on his instrument. He plays both modern and historical bassoons, and he is also a noted educator. Azzolini's career was boosted by awards at the Prague Spring Festival, the International Carl Maria von Weber Competition, and the ARD Music Competition in Germany. He is the founder of the ensemble Il Proteo and has also performed with the Ma'alot Quintet and the Sabine Meyer Bläserensemble. On historical bassoons, Azzolini has appeared as a soloist with the historical-performances groups L'Aura Soave Cremona and La Stravaganza Köln. Azzolini's recording debut was a 1990 album of Mozart wind serenades with the Academy of St. Martin in the Fields. Azzolini released an album of concertos and orchestral music by Leopold Kozeluch in 2021. By that year, he had reached the fifth volume of a complete series of Vivaldi's 39 bassoon concertos.