Biography

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Rachel Yoder currently serves as editor of The Clarinet, quarterly journal of the International Clarinet Association, and adjunct professor of music at the DigiPen Institute of Technology in Redmond, Washington. She is based in the Seattle area, where recent performances and collaborations include the Seattle Modern Orchestra, Yakima Symphony Orchestra, Universal Language Project, Chorosynthesis, Seattle Metropolitan Chamber Orchestra, North Corner Chamber Orchestra, Odd Partials clarinet/electronics duo, and a video production of Steve Reich’s New York Counterpoint at the Classical KING-FM studios.

Rachel has performed and presented throughout the United States, including appearances at numerous ClarinetFest® conferences, the 2015 International Computer Music Conference, the 2012 and 2013 Society for Electroacoustic Music in the United States (SEAMUS) conferences, and as guest artist at the University of Wyoming New Frontiers Festival and the Texas A&M University – Commerce Clarinet Colloquium.

With the Madera Wind Quintet, Rachel premiered the winning work of the Joint Wind Quintet Commissioning Project at conferences of the International Horn Society and International Double Reed Society in 2012. She was a co-founder of the quintet in 2008 and can be heard on two recordings, Five at Play (Crescent Phase Records, 2012) featuring premiere recordings of new works for wind quintet, and Five Piece Combo (Ravello Records, 2015) featuring the three suites for wind quintet by Don Gillis.

From 2008 to 2015 she co-authored a regular column in The Clarinet titled “Clarinet Cache,” and the accompanying Clarinet Cache blog. Her research interests include interactive computer music, integrating technology into music pedagogy, and extended techniques for clarinet.

Previous teaching posts have included Southeastern Oklahoma State University and the University of North Texas, where Rachel served as a teaching fellow and earned a doctorate in clarinet performance. She also holds degrees from Michigan State University and Ball State University. Her teachers include James Gillespie, Caroline Hartig and Elsa Ludewig-Verdehr.