He is an active performer on all the major modern woodwind instruments, as well as a number of "world," historical, and electronic woodwinds. He performs in a variety of musical settings: solo recital, chamber, orchestral, jazz, blues, rock, and more. In 2014 he won the Mississippi Humanities Council Humanities Teacher Award. He has degrees from the University of Georgia (DMA woodwinds), Indiana University (MM woodwinds) and Brigham Young University (BM saxophone). He blogs on woodwind-related topics at http://bretpimentel.com and is the author of the new book Woodwind Basics: Fundamental concepts for playing and teaching flute, oboe, clarinet, bassoon, and saxophone.