Cecilia Kang

Associate Professor of Clarinet

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Biography

Praised for “ethereal colors” and “effortless” clarinet playing (The Clarinet Journal), clarinetist Cecilia Kang celebrates a multifaceted career as a performer, educator, scholar, adjudicator, and curator. Since her concerto debut at age sixteen, she has appeared as a soloist, chamber musician, and orchestral clarinetist, collaborating with members of the St. Lawrence String Quartet, the Berlin Philharmonic, the Royal Danish Orchestra, the Los Angeles Philharmonic, the Toronto Symphony Orchestra, and Louisiana Philharmonic, among many others. In addition to winning top prizes from the Canadian Music Competition, the Montreal Symphony Orchestra Standard Life Competition, and the International Clarinet Association Research Competition, she has also received generous support from grant organizations such as the New Music USA, the Louisiana Board of Regents and the Canada Council for the Arts.

Known for her innovative teaching style, Dr. Kang has given over a hundred clarinet master classes all over the world including at the Milan Conservatory (Italy), the Krzysztof Penderecki Academy of Music in Kraków (Poland), National Taiwan University of Arts (Taiwan), Yonsei University (South Korea), Thailand International Clarinet Academy (Thailand), Beijing Central Conservatory of Music (China), the University of Toronto (Canada), as well as the University of Michigan, the University of Texas Austin, and San Francisco Conservatory of Music in the US. She has presented at the Midwest Clinic, the Texas Music Educators Association Clinic, the College Music Society Conference, and the ClarinetFest.

Her scholarly works have been published by the Cambridge University Press, and the Publishing House Academy of Music Krzysztof Penderecki (Poland). This fall, she has an article for the Clarinet Journal and several pedagogy courses for the ToneBase Platform in press. As an adjudicator, she has served on various panels for the National Endowment for the Arts, the International Clarinet Association, the Music Teachers National Association, the College Music Society, the Interflow Band Festival of Hong Kong, and the Vandoren Emerging Artist Competition.

Throughout her career, Dr. Kang has been committed to seeking creative and purposeful ways to balance her musical career and community building as a 21st-century global citizen. During the COVID-19 pandemic, she established the Silver Linings Initiative, for which she organized 25 virtual panel discussions among clarinetists, music educators, and arts leaders around the world examining the paradigm shifts in the field of Music. In January 2023, she curated the groundbreaking Han and Heung Festival, at Louisiana State University, celebrating stories of resilience and optimism shared by the Korean and African-American diasporas by interweaving music with social dialogue.

She holds degrees from the University of Michigan (DMA), the University of Southern California (MM), and the University of Toronto (BM). Her principal clarinet teachers include Yehuda Gilad, Daniel Gilbert, Joaquin Valdepenas, and Avrahm Galper. Dr. Kang currently serves as the associate professor of clarinet at Louisiana State University, and an artist faculty at Aria International Academy and Sewanee Music Festival during the summers. She is a Vandoren and Buffet Crampon Performing Artist and Clinician. https://kangcecilia.com