Kelly Austermann is an active clarinetist and music educator in the St. Louis area. She has performed with the Illinois Symphony Orchestra, the Gateway Festival Orchestra, St. Louis Philharmonic Orchestra, the Hot Springs Festival Orchestra, the Fountain Hills Chamber Players, the AKME Clarinet Duo, Casella Sinfonietta, the Saint Louis Wind Symphony, the Vintage Brass Band, the Queens of Swing, El Monstero, and the Lettermen. She can be heard in solo clarinet passages on the Grammy-nominated CD, Fireworks!released under the Equilibrium label and on In This Hid Clearing released under the Naxos label. Kelly was also a featured performer on the nationally televised show, CBS Sunday Morning.
Kelly has extensive teaching experience with students of all ages and ability levels. She is currently professor of clarinet at Southern Illinois University-Edwardsville. She has been on the teaching faculty at St. Louis Community College, Jefferson College, and East Central College. She has taught a wide variety of music courses including Applied Clarinet, Applied Saxophone, Music Appreciation, Fundamentals of Music, History of Jazz, and History of Rock and Roll.
Kelly’s research interests are pedagogically oriented. Her dissertation, “A Supplemental Repertoire List for the Development of Fundamental Skills in Pre-Collegiate Clarinetists,” identifies repertoire that allows students to concurrently refine fundamental skills while preparing a piece for performance.
She has performed and presented research at the International Clarinet Association’s ClarinetFest, the American Single Reed Summit Conference, the National Association of College Wind and Percussion Instructors National Conference, the Midwest Clarifest Conference, and the American Musicological Society Scholars Conference.
She received her Bachelors of Music from the University of Missouri-Columbia, her Masters of Music from the University of North Carolina-Greensboro, and her Doctor of Musical Arts from Arizona State University.
