Michael Lowenstern, Clarinet & Bass Clarinet
 

Michael Lowenstern, considered one of the finest bass clarinetists in the world, has performed, recorded and toured the U.S. and abroad as a soloist and with ensembles of every variety. His career has traveled across equally diverse territory, and Lowenstern has enjoyed performing with musicians and groups such as The Klezmatics, Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, Steve Reich and Musicians, The Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center and John Zorn.

As a composer, Michael has written music for concert, film, dance and the other new media. Actively involved with new technology in sound and music, Michael is one of this country’s leading producers of creative electro-acoustic music, both for his own works and in collaboration with other composers. To date he can be heard on over forty recordings, including four solo discs: the critically acclaimed Spasm, 1985, Ten Children, which garnered a "Parenting Pick" award in Parenting Magazine's music listing for 2004, and his newest, Fade.

In 1989, Michael was the recipient of a Fulbright grant to study in Amsterdam, and in 1991 was the top prizewinner at the International Gaudeamus Competition in Rotterdam, The Netherlands. A graduate of the Interlochen Arts Academy, he received further training from the Eastman School of Music (BM, Performer’s Certificate), the Sweelinck Conservatorium Amsterdam (Artist’s Certificate), and the State University of New York at Stony Brook (MM, DMA), studying clarinet and bass clarinet with Charles Neidich, Harry Sparnaay, Richard MacDowell and John Bruce Yeh, and composition with Daniel Weymouth. Michael has served on the faculties of the Juilliard School and New York University, and travels regularly as a guest lecturer at universities around the country. He is currently on the faculty of the Manhattan School of Music's brand-new, ground breaking Graduate Program in Contemporary Performance.

Lowenstern is also an award-winning web designer and enjoys a second career as the Director of Rich Media Development for MRM Worldwide in New York City, having designed and produced both online and offline advertising for clients such as Maybelline, Warner Brothers, Intel and Wendy’s, among many others.  He lives in Brooklyn with his wife, clarinetist Katherine Cooke, and daughter Ariel.


Michelle Kiec, Clarinet and Saxophone 


Dr. Michelle Kiec enjoys an active career as both a pedagogue and a performer. She has performed with the Harrisburg Symphony and Opera, West Virginia Symphony, Kentucky Symphony Orchestra, Nittany Valley Symphony, Missouri Valley Chamber Orchestra, National Repertory Orchestra, Breckenridge Music Festival Orchestra and Aspen Music Festival. As a soloist, she has appeared at numerous festivals and conventions, including the International Clarinet Association, Northern Plains Clarinet Symposium, Montana-Idaho Clarinet Festival, Midwest ClariFest, University of Oklahoma Clarinet Symposium, Fargo-Moorhead Clarinet Extravaganza, and North American Saxophone Alliance.

Dr. Kiec holds bachelor's degrees in saxophone performance and German from the State University of New York at Buffalo. She earned master's and doctoral degrees in clarinet performance at The Peabody Conservatory of Music of The Johns Hopkins University. Currently, Dr. Kiec is associate professor of music and Music Program Director at the University of Mary in Bismarck, North Dakota where she teaches applied woodwind performance, chamber music, woodwind pedagogy, and music theory.



Dr. Christy Banks, Assistant Professor of Clarinet and Saxophone, Millersville University
   

Dr. Christy Banks serves as Assistant Chair of the Music Department and teaches clarinet and saxophone as well as curricular offerings in the Music Business & Technologies program.  Prior to her appointment to the Millersville University Music Faculty in 2005, Dr. Banks previously taught clarinet, saxophone, and related music courses at Nebraska Wesleyan University, Concordia University, Doane College, Union College, and Peru State College. She has been a member many professional ensembles such as the Lincoln Symphony Orchestra, the Nebraska Symphony Chamber Orchestra, the Third Chair Chamber Players, the Lincoln Municipal Band, and the Huntington Trio. Interested in newly composed music, Dr. Banks is a founding member of Lincoln's New Music Agency and Bent Indigenous, an Alabama-based contemporary music ensemble. She has appeared as a soloist in Germany and Austria, and she can be heard on Living Artist Recordings.  In Pennsylvania Banks has performed with the Harrisburg Symphony, the Lancaster Symphony, the Reading Symphony, and the PA  Sinfonia and has played for shows at the Fulton Opera House and Mount Gretna Theater. Banks received her DMA (2005) and BM (1996) in clarinet from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and an MM in clarinet from Florida State University (1998). Her primary clarinet teachers are Diane Cawein Barger, Frank Kowalsky, Eric Ginsberg, and Wesley Reist. In addition, she studied saxophone with Robert Fought and Rebecca Gann, flute with John Bailey, and oboe with Bill McMullen.  Dr. Banks is the Pennsylvania state chair of the International Clarinet Association and the founder of the Millersville University Single Reed Symposium.