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 재직
로린 마젤 지휘자로 부터 캐슬리튼 페스티벌 오케스트라의
이탈리아 밀라노 콘서바토리, 캐나다 토론토 대학, 미
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.