The Western Carolina University Clarinet Studio is led by Dr. Shannon Thompson, winner of the 2011 James Dooley Excellence in Music Teaching Award. Clarinet music majors within the studio can pursue degrees in performance, music education, commercial and electronic music, music industry, or music with a minor in another area. All performing groups at WCU are open to both music and non-music majors. Ensembles include wind ensemble, symphony band, concert band, marching band, various chamber ensembles including small ensembles and clarinet choir, jazz band, musical theatre productions, community orchestra, and our Artist-In-Residence Orchestra program where students perform orchestral masterworks with members of the Asheville Symphony. See this link for application and audition information. Those auditioning for the undergraduate program should prepare two or three pages from a standard clarinet solo, as well as all major scales (at least two octaves by memory), and be ready to sightread. To increase your chances of admission and prepare to succeed as a music major, Dr. Thompson offers the following advice:
You are also welcome to schedule a day to come hang out with the students in the clarinet studio, go to classes with them, and have a lesson with Dr. Thompson to see what life at Western is like. Contact Dr. Thompson by email or call her at 828-227-3956. She is happy to offer a free lesson to ANY interested clarinetist! For more information about the School of Music at Western Carolina University, go to music.wcu.edu.
CONCERTO DIVAS AND DIVOS of the WCU CLARINET STUDIO In spring 2010, the clarinet studio set a record the WCU when five of its members won concerto competitions and performed solos with university ensembles in one semester! The clarinet studio also holds the record at WCU for most consecutive years (seven) of concerto competition winners. March 2014 WCU Wind Ensemble Concerto Competition - Performed April 2014: Kandyce Norton (junior) - Adagio and Tarantella by Cavallini January 2013 Western Carolina Civic Orchestra Concerto Competition - Performed May 2013: Leanna Smith (senior) - Concerto for Clarinet and English horn by Josef Fiala (Eric Jackson, English horn) March 2012 WCU Wind Ensemble Concerto Competition - Performed April 2012: Hannah Austin (junior) - Introduction, Theme, and Variations by Gioachino Rossini Emily Talley (masters student) - Alla Polacca from Concerto No. 2 by Carl Maria von Weber March 2011 WCU Wind Ensemble Concerto Competition - Performed April 2011: Leanna Smith (sophomore) - Rondo from Concerto No. 1 by Carl Maria von Weber March 2010 WCU Wind Ensemble Concerto Competition - Performed April 2010: Tripp Lewis (sophomore) - Viktor’s Tale from The Terminal by John Williams Austin Waynick (junior) and Lance Barton (senior) - Allegro from Concerto for Two Clarinets, Op. 35 by Franz Krommer January 2010 Western Carolina Civic Orchestra Concert Competition - Performed May 2010 Hannah Austin (freshman) - Allegro from Concerto, K. 622 by W.A. Mozart Leanna Smith (freshman) - Rondo from Concerto, K. 622 by W.A. Mozart January 2009 Western Carolina Civic Orchestra Concert Competition - Performed April 2009 Katie Ebert (masters student) - Second and Third Movement from Concerto in F minor by Bernhard Henrik Crusell March 2008 WCU Wind Ensemble Concerto Competition - Performed April 2008: Katie Ebert (masters student) - Fantasia and Rondo by Carl Maria von Weber |