Stephanie Zelnick Assistant Professor of Clarinet
The San Francisco Classical Voice calls her playing “simply sublime,” while the Boulder Daily Camera has praised her “exquisite clarinet solos.”
Stephanie Zelnick, assistant professor of clarinet at the University of Kansas, has emerged as one of the most dynamic clarinet players of her generation, performing in the finest venues throughout the United States, South America, and Europe. She is currently the principal clarinet in the Boulder Philharmonic Orchestra and the Central City Opera. Several highlights of her 2008-2009 season include a live broadcast on WFMT, Chicago, as part of the Dame Myra Hess Artist Series, and recitals throughout Serbia and Brazil. Her playing can be heard weekly on NPR and Colorado Public Radio. In September 2009 she will appear as a featured artist at the 34th annual International Music Festival of the Escola de Música e Artes Cênicas da Universidade Federal de Goiás, in Goiania, Brazil.
In Europe Zelnick served as principal clarinet of the Czech Chamber Philharmonic and appeared throughout the continent with the Prague Opera, the Johann Strauss Opera in Vienna, and the Frantisbad Symphony Orchestra in the Czech Republic. In the United States, she has served as principal clarinet in the Mississippi Symphony Orchestra, Greeley Philharmonic Orchestra, and the Sunflower Music Festival, as well as appearing with the Colorado Symphony, Tallahassee Symphony Orchestra, Kansas City Symphony, Seattle Pops, Aspen Festival Orchestra, and the Colorado Music Festival, among many others.
Dr. Zelnick has toured Europe as a soloist and a member of the Prague International Trio, performing in Italy, Denmark, Belgium, the Netherlands, Switzerland, and Germany. She was recently a soloist at the Southern Clarinet Symposium, the International Clarinet Association ClarinetFest, and the OU Clarinet Symposium She remains a member of the Prague-based chamber ensemble Classicon XX and has served as a musical ambassador throughout Europe.
As a college educator, Zelnick has served on the faculties of the University of Wyoming and the University of Northern Colorado as well as teaching at the Florida State University. She is an active clinician and has presented master classes at numerous universities and conferences, including most recently Michigan State University, University of Denver, and University of Southern Mississippi.
Dr. Zelnick graduated from Rice University with a Bachelors degree in clarinet performance. She was a the recipient of a Fulbright Grant and received her Artist Diploma at the Academy for the Performing Arts in Prague. She earned her MM and DMA degrees from the University of Northern Colorado. She is sponsored by Buffet Crampon, the world’s finest and oldest clarinet manufacturer.
