About (바이오)

Praised for “ethereal [tonal] colors” and “effortless” clarinet playing (The Clarinet Journal), Korean-Canadian clarinetist Cecilia Kang enjoys an innovative and multi-faceted international career as a concert clarinetist, educator, scholar, adjudicator and a collaborator. Dr. Kang currently serves as the associate professor of clarinet at Louisiana State University and she is also an artist faculty at Aria International Summer Academy and Sewanee Music Festival during the summers.

Since her concerto debut at age sixteen, she has frequently appeared as a soloist with symphony orchestras and bands across Asia and North America. An in-demand chamber musician, she has 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 Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra, the Charleston Symphony Orchestra, the Baton Rouge Symphony Orchestra and the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra (Canada).

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 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.

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 the Milan Conservatory (Italy).

Throughout her career, she has been invited to serve as an adjudicator on behalf of 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’s Clarinet Journal. 

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.

She 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.

한국어

강주희 (세실리아 강)은 클라리넷 연주자, 교육자와 콩쿨심사위원으로 다양한 활동을 이어가고 있다. 현재 미국 루이지애나 주립대학교의 부교수로 재직하며 여름에는 스와니 뮤직 페스티벌과 아리아 국제 음악 아카데미의 교수진으로 활동 중이다. 예후다 길라드, 다니엘 길버트, 조셉 올로우스키, 와킨 발데페나스, 아브람 갤퍼를 사사한 세실리아 강은 토론토대학에서 음악학사, 남캘리포니아 대학에서 음악석사, 미시간 대학에서 음악박사 학위를 취득하였다.  캐나다 국립 음악 콩쿠르, 몬트리올 심포니 경연대회 등에서 수상을 하였고, 캐나다 예술위원회, 캐나다 뉴뮤직 프로젝트 재단, 킹스웨이 재단, 뉴 뮤직 USA, 헨드릭슨 재단, 메트로폴리탄 예술위원회, 주미 한국대사관 등으로부터도 수상하였다.

로린 마젤 지휘자로 부터 캐슬리튼 페스티벌 오케스트라의 클라리넷 수석을 역임하며 캐나다 토론토 콘서트 오케스트라, 위니펙 심포니, 미국 찰스턴 심포니, 볼티모어 심포니, 루이지애나 필하모닉 등 객원 단원으로 활동을 하고있다. 베를린 필하모니, 덴마크 왕립 오케스트라, 로스엔젤레스 필하모니, 토론토 심포니 오케스트라 단원들과 세인트 로렌스 현악 사중주 와 많은 챔버 연주를 하였으며, 북미 와 아시아 에있는 여러 관악단과 오케스트라와 협연을 하고있다. 최근 2022 대전국제음악제 폐막식에서 지휘자 금난세와 신세계 필하모닉 오케스트라의 게스트 솔리스트로 스티브 코헨 (노스웨스턴대학교 클라리넷 명예교수) 와 같이 협연을 하고 2023 제주국제음악제에서 획기적인 연주를 선보였다.

이탈리아 밀라노 콘서바토리,  캐나다 토론토 대학, 미국 샌프란시스코 콘서바토리, 인디애나대학교, 피바디 콘서바토리, 미시간 대학교, 한국에서는 전주대학교, 신라대학교, 연세대학교, 경희대학교, 충남대학교, 중국 베이징 중앙 콘서바토리, 상하이 콘서바토리, 호주 멜버른대학교, 홍콩 사이완호 시민회관, 국립대만 예술 대학교, 태국 국제 클라리넷 아카데미에서 강의와 마스터 클래스를 진행했고, 국제 클라리넷 협회에서 개최한 클라리넷 페스트 (ClarinetFest), 칼리지 뮤직 협회(College Music Society), 국제 밴드 오케스트라 음악 미드웨스트 클리닉(Midwest Clinic), 미국 음악 교육자 협회 에서 강의와 연주로 많은 인정을 받고 있다.  2023년 국제 클라리넷 협회 연구 대회에서 1등을 수상했다. 

최근 루이지애나 주립 대학교에서 한국인과 아프리카계 미국인 디아스포라가 공유하는 획기적인 음악과 사회적 Han (한/恨) and Heung (흥/興) Festival을 큐레이팅했다. 2020-2021년에 Silver Linings Initiative 을 설립하여 국제적인 클라리넷 연주자, 음악 교육가, 예술 리더들과 코로나 19에서 새로운 음악적 페라다임을 토론하는 행사를 온라인로 주관하였다. 현재 반도렌과 뷔페 크램폰 소속 아티스트로 활발한 활동을 하고 있다.