Unit 306, 707 Prudden Street, Lansing MI, 48906
Instruments:Clarinet

Styles:Classical, Kids
Levels:Beginner, Intermediate, Advanced
Experience:12 years
Rate:$50 / hr

Personal Statement

I hold a B.M. in clarinet performance from the Bard College Conservatory of Music and have been teaching private clarinet lessons for over 12 years with great success. My students have received high ratings in state sponsored competitions, excelled in band, been accepted into competitive college music programs, and have shown great personal growth. I have also provided clarinet clinics at at a number of schools in Michigan and South Carolina.

I provide high quality instruction on B flat, E flat, and bass clarinets to students of all ages and abilities. Each lesson is tailored to the individual student’s needs. I ensure that all of my students have a solid foundation in fundamental techniques and sight reading, in addition to working with them on ability-appropriate studies and pieces. As a private instructor, I strive to inspire a love of music, not just teach my students how to play.

I am also available to coach chamber music groups.

To give you a little bit more information about my background, I have extensive experience playing in orchestras, bands, chamber ensembles, and as a soloist on B flat, E flat, and bass clarinet throughout the United States and in China. Most recently, I was the principal clarinetist with the North Charleston Pops Orchestra for their inaugural season (2012-2013). I have worked closely with the Grammy Award winning composer Joan Tower as a performer, a composition student, and as a clarinet instructor for her college ensembles. As a member of the Bard Conservatory Orchestra, I played under a number of conductors including Xian Zhang from the New York Philharmonic, Leon Botstein from the American Symphony Orchestra, Gisele Ben-Dor from the Santa Barbara Symphony Orchestra and Guillermo Figueroa from New Mexico Symphony Orchestra.

At Bard, I studied with David Krakauer and Laura Flax and have previously studied with Ted Oien of the Detroit Symphony and Dr. Andrew Seigel, who is now a professor of clarinet at SUNY Fredonia. I have also studied chamber music with pianists Jeremy Denk, Blair McMillen, and Melvin Chen, cellists Luis Garcia-Renart and Robert Martin, violinists Wei-gang Li and Laurie Smuckler, bassonist Marc Goldberg, and flutist Tara Helen O’Connor.

Sarah Wegener