About me!
Amanda Morrison is on faculty at Slippery Rock University where she teaches Applied Clarinet and is the Director of Clarinet Choir. She has served on the staff of Fairmont State University, West Liberty University, Florida State University, and Gulf Coast Community College and is a private clarinet instructor in Pittsburgh, PA. Morrison spends her summers performing and teaching at both the French Woods Performing Arts Festival in NY and Band Camp for Adult Musicians in PA. She is also on faculty of ECpBA (Ensamble de clarinetes de la provincia de Buenos Aires) in Buenos Aires, Argentina where she performs, conducts the clarinet choir, and leads masterclasses alongside noted artist-educators in Argentina. Morrison is a Vandoren Artist-Clinician and Event Director of Steel City Clarinet Day, a community event of music making and clarinet learning for clarinet students, professionals, and enthusiasts.
As a performer, Dr. Morrison has given performances and lectures at the International Clarinet Association’s ClarinetFest, the NACWPI National Convention, the Music by Women Festival, The Pennsylvania Music Educators Association Conference, the Maryland Music Educators Association Conference, the West Virginia Music Educators Association Conference, the American Musicological Society’s National Conference, and numerous colleges and universities throughout the United States. She is a founding member of the Milano Duo clarinet ensemble, Grant Avenue Clarinet Duo, and the PM Woodwind Project flute and clarinet duo. Morrison has been a clarinetist with the Westmoreland Symphony Orchestra, Tallahassee Symphony Orchestra, Butler Symphony Orchestra, and the Shenandoah Valley Bach Festival.
As a fierce new music advocate, Dr. Morrison has commissioned and premiered clarinet works by Eric Mandat, Scott McAllister, Jenni Brandon, James David, Daniel Dorff, Theresa Martin, Lynda Dembowski, Karen Amrhein, Tara Islas, Nicole Chamberlain, Matthew Harder, Gay Kahkonen, Kurt Knecht, David Martynuik, Elaine Ross, Nadine Silverman, Alan Tormey, Robert Traugh, and Roger Zare. Having a strong interest in extended techniques for clarinet, Morrison’s research focuses on the music of clarinetist/composer Eric Mandat, recording his music and publishing numerous articles on his life and works in the Clarinet Journal, NACWPI Journal, and Vandoren Newsletter. Her latest explorations involve EFX Clarinet (amplified clarinet enhanced with guitar pedal effects). Awarded an artist residency at Avaloch Farm Music Institute in 2024, Morrison, along with Dr. Rosemary Engelstad, established the Grant Avenue Clarinet Duo; an EFX Clarinet duo dedicated to sharing and expanding the repertoire for two amplified clarinets.
In October of 2023, Morrison, along with co-host Dr. Amy Guffey, launched the “Hidden Cues” podcast on Spotify and Apple Podcasts. The podcast series was created to build community and awareness around pregnancy and post-pregnancy life in musical settings. As co-hosts, Morrison and Guffey interview guests about their personal and professional experiences navigating physical, mental, and emotional obstacles during and after pregnancy. The podcast has grown a wide-age range of followers in its first year of production.
Dr. Morrison earned a BM degree from Duquesne University and MM and DM degrees from Florida State University with her principal teachers being Mark Nuccio, Dr. Deborah Bish, and Dr. Frank Kowalsky with additional studies with Eric Mandat, Michael Rusinek, Mary Beth Malek, and D Ray McClellan. When not playing and teaching the clarinet, she enjoys reading, traveling, yoga, vegan chocolate and tea, and most of all; being “mom” to her two children.
