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Jennifer Showalter Clarinet Studio
Award-Winning Clarinet Lessons for the Advancing Student.
Los Angeles, California
Training top young clarinetists for over thirty years in the San Gabriel Valley, including Arcadia, San Marino, Temple City, Pasadena, Sierra Madre, Monrovia, and Diamond Bar. Studio lessons are also now available in Quartz Hill, and online worldwide via Zoom.
Teaching Bio
In constant demand as a master teacher, Ms. Showalter is currently instructor of Clarinet Studies at Azusa Pacific University. Previously, she was on the Applied Faculty of California State University Long Beach, Biola University, Long Beach City College, and Pasadena City College. She is regularly engaged as an adjudicator and clinician, and was a member of the Pasadena Symphony Mentor and Tempo programs. Ms. Showalter was also the Clarinet Curriculum developer for Maestro Concept. Ms. Showalter's Clarinet Studio is widely renowned and her pre-college students have been members of local honor groups, many as principal clarinet, including:
CBDA California All-State Honor Band
SCSBOA All-Southern California Honor Bands and Orchestras
CBDNA Honor Band
Pasadena Young Musician's Orchestra
Claremont Young Musician's Orchestra
Pasadena Youth Symphony Orchestra
Pacific Symphony Institute
Olympia Youth Orchestra
Los Angeles Youth Orchestra
Pasadena "Tournament of Roses" Honor Band
CSULA "First Chair" Honor Band
CMEA Honor Band
Pasadena POPS "Side by Side" Symphony
Junior Chamber Music
MTAC Certificate of Merit Advanced level
Ms. Showalter's studio students have also been winners of many solo and concerto competitions and scholarships, including:
Pasadena Young Musician's Orchestra Concerto competitions
MTAC Solo Competitions
Claremont Symphonic Winds Young Artists Concerto Competition
Southwestern Youth Music Festival Open category competitions
Ms. Showalter is a member of the American Federation of Musicians (Local 47), the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences (voting member), the International Clarinet Association, Music Teachers Association of California (Los Angeles County Branch), Southwestern Youth Music Festival (teacher member), and the Southern California School Band and Orchestra Association.
Contact
To inquire about online lessons, teaching studios, or to have me coach, clinic, or adjudicate your group, please go to Contact.
Teaching Recommendations
Matthew Volk, Stanford University
Looking back on my five years as one of Jennifer's students, I am filled with gratitude. I remember the first day I met her, as the eighth grader who had just barely gotten the last chair spot in the Pasadena Youth Symphony Orchestra's wind ensemble. She has helped me grow immensely both as a musician and as a person over the years, and now, as I prepare to leave for college, I can barely express what it has meant to me.
From the beginning, Jennifer ran the lessons with a bright, positive attitude. Whenever I started to get frustrated, she would lightheartedly remind me of the first rule of clarinet lessons: “There's no 'can't' in clarinet lessons. There's only 'can't yet!'” She was right every time, too; no matter how hard the passage was, she would help me get it eventually. Her constructive criticism was always helpful and given in such a way that it increased my motivation to keep trying. Additionally, whenever I struggled with something, Jennifer could immediately pinpoint the source of the problem and help correct it, making her lessons extremely efficient.
I believe one of the keys to Jennifer's success with her students is her ability to focus on both long-term and short-term improvement. When I first started taking lessons with her, she made sure to start by giving me a solid technical foundation with the basics—long tones, register exercises, scales, and Klose pages—so that I could quickly begin to focus on the more advanced (and more fun) parts of music, like conveying emotion and making everything sound effortless. Because of her, I was able to quickly move up the ranks, and I eventually became principal clarinetist in the Pasadena Young Musicians Orchestra and in the SCSBOA All-Southern Honor Orchestra and Honor Band. I know I never could have done this without her.
I'm constantly impressed by Jennifer's commitment to her students. She's an incredible performer (European Adventure is breathtaking) and a busy one at that, so the amount of time and effort she is willing to put into her studio is amazing. She's always contactable and keeps track of every audition or competition for her students, which probably explains why her students are so well represented in local honor groups. She even writes down all these performances in her already-crammed calendar and does her best to come and see all of them.
Jennifer's methodical and positive approach to teaching have certainly helped me grow as a musician but have genuinely helped me grow as a person. She taught me to have patience with myself and to enjoy what I do. I definitely would not be the same person without her guidance these past five years, and I am extremely grateful. Jennifer is kind, caring, and inspiring. If you are looking for a clarinet teacher, you would be hard pressed to find someone as great as Jennifer.