Cecilia Kang

Associate Professor of Clarinet


 

Biography

Clarinetist Cecilia Kang enjoys a multi-faceted international career as a concert clarinetist, educator, and adjudicator. Dr. Kang currently serves as the associate professor of clarinet at Louisiana State University and artist faculty at Aria International Summer Academy. Praised for “ethereal [tonal] colors” and “effortless” clarinet playing (The Clarinet Journal), she is a top prize winner of the Canadian Music Competition, the Montreal Symphony Orchestra Standard Life Competition, and the International Clarinet Association Research Competition. She is also a recipient of numerous grants from the Embassy of the Republic of Korea in Washington DC, the New Music USA, the Canada Council for the Arts, the Metropolitan Arts Council, the Alliance for Canadian New Music Projects, the Kingsway Foundation, and the Hendrickson Foundation.

Since her concerto debut at age sixteen, she has appeared as a soloist with orchestras and bands around the world and collaborated with the St. Lawrence String Quartet, and members of the Berlin Philharmonic, the Royal Danish Orchestra, the Cleveland Orchestra, the Los Angeles Philharmonic, the Toronto Symphony Orchestra, and the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra. As an orchestral player, she has performed with the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, the Charleston Symphony Orchestra, the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra (Canada), the Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra, and the Baton Rouge Symphony Orchestra.

As a highly sought educator, Dr. Kang has presented at the Midwest Clinic International Band, Orchestra & Music Conference, the College Music Society Conference, the International Clarinet Association’s ClarinetFest, and the Music Educators Association conferences in Texas, Louisiana, South Carolina, South Dakota, Minnesota, and North Dakota. She has also given many clarinet master classes and workshops at prestigious musical institutions around the world such as the San Francisco Conservatory, the University of Michigan, the University of Toronto (Canada), Beijing Central Conservatory of Music (China), the National Taiwan University of Arts (Taiwan), Yonsei University (South Korea), Thailand International Clarinet Academy (Thailand), and Milan Conservatory (Italy).

Throughout her career, she has been invited to serve as an adjudicator on behalf of the National Endowment for the Arts, the International Clarinet Association, the Music Teachers National Association, the College Music Society, the Vandoren Emerging Artist Competition, the Interflow Band Festival of Hong Kong, and the Witold Friemann International Clarinet Competition. Her scholarly works have been published by the Cambridge University Press, the GIA Publications, and the International Clarinet Association.

Dr. Kang is committed to seeking creative and purposeful ways to balance her 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, Dr. Kang curated the groundbreaking Han and Heung Festival, celebrating stories of resilience and optimism shared by both the Korean and African-American diasporas through interweaving an unforgettable fusion of music and social dialogue.

Dr. Kang earned a Doctor of Musical Arts degree from the University of Michigan, a Master of Music degree from the University of Southern California, and a Bachelor of Music degree from the University of Toronto. She has participated in professional development residencies at the Banff Centre for the Arts (Canada), the International Ensemble and Composers Academy for Contemporary Music (Austria), and the International Music Institute Darmstadt (Germany). Her clarinet mentors include Yehuda Gilad, Daniel Gilbert, Joseph Orlowski, Joaquin Valdepenas, Avrahm Galper, and Zeng-Ming Liao. She is a proud Vandoren and Buffet Crampon Performing Artist and Clinician. https://kangcecilia.com/

 

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Contact
Information

207 School of Music Building
Louisiana State University
Baton Rouge, LA 70803

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