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Mary Kantor, clarinet
Clarinetist Mary Kantor maintains an active career as an orchestra and chamber musician as well as teacher. As a Seattle Pacific University faculty member, she has participated in faculty recitals, Clarinet Choir Concerts, and their annual chamber music recital concerts. The annual “Clarinetissimo” organized by Sean Osborn and co-hosted by Ms Kantor at SPU is a Washington State clarinet highlight every year. An avid and active chamber and orchestral music performer, she maintains a busy schedule in the Seattle area and beyond. Recent chamber music performances include “Pierrot Lunaire” with the University of Puget Sound faculty in October of 2019, a concert entitled “People of the Drum” with the Seattle Peace Chorus in November, that featured a lengthy bass clarinet solo depicting the Orca, and a chamber music concert with her own group, called “Tipping Point” in January and February of 2020.
She has received her Bachelor of Music degree from the University of Washington and graduated from the Academy of Music in Vienna with Honors in clarinet performance, where she was in the class of Rudolf Jettel.
As an educator, she coaches the Seattle Youth Symphony, Cascade Youth Symphony, and Bellevue Youth Symphony. She has also been on the faculty of Seattle Pacific University as clarinet professor from 1999 to the present. In addition, she maintains a private clarinet studio, many of whom go on to graduate from music schools such as Indiana University, Peabody, University of Michigan, and more. As the Washington state chair for the International Clarinet Association, she has published numerous articles in the Clarinet Magazine, and is frequently called upon to be an adjudicator.