Clarinetist Dr. Stephanie Zelnick enjoys a dynamic and multifaceted career as a soloist, orchestral performer, and chamber musician, appearing throughout North America, Asia, South America, and Europe. With performing and teaching appearances in venues such as Carnegie Hall, The Juilliard School, Northwestern University, and the Yale School of Music, among many others, she has received critical acclaim for her "committed and polished performances." A distinguished educator and scholar, she is Professor of Clarinet at the University of Kansas.

 

In addition to broadcasts on Performance Today and other NPR affiliates, she has performed and taught extensively throughout Italy, France, Denmark, Belgium, the Netherlands, Switzerland, Austria, Finland, the Czech Republic, Spain, Costa Rica, Slovakia, Germany, and most recently at festivals in Brazil, Lithuania, Mexico, Serbia, Romania, Colombia, Canada, Sweden, the United Kingdom, and Taiwan. Recent performances and masterclasses include Indiana University, Eastman School of Music, University of Michigan, The Florida State University, Real Conservatorio Superior de Madrid, the Lithuanian Academy of Music, National Autonomous University of Mexico, Imani Winds Chamber Music Festival, Festival Internacional de Clarinetes Costa Rica, the Academy for the Performing Arts in Prague, the National Concert Hall in Taiwan, and the Dame Myra Hess Series, among others.

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She has held principal clarinet positions in the Boulder Philharmonic Orchestra, Central City Opera, Johann Strauss Opera in Vienna, Mississippi Symphony, Prague Opera Orchestra, Colorado Ballet, and Greeley Philharmonic Orchestra, and has appeared with various other orchestras, including the Colorado Symphony, Prague Chamber Orchestra, Kansas City Symphony, Tallahassee Symphony, and Tucson Symphony. Dr. Zelnick has appeared as a soloist with numerous orchestras, championing classic repertoire as well as vibrant new works. 

 

She is the recipient of awards from Privrednik (Serbia’s leading humanitarian organization), the Fulbright Commission, the Lithuanian Council on Arts and Science, and American embassies around the world. She received the University of Kansas School of Music Outstanding Faculty Teaching Award in 2021, the Outstanding Faculty Research Award in 2025, and has served as a KU Honors Faculty Fellow. Her teaching is available online through featured courses on tonebase.

 

Dr. Zelnick’s recordings can be heard on the Innova, Accademia del Clarinetto, and Naxos labels, among others. She has completed four solo albums and three chamber music albums. Of her recordings, The Clarinet praises her "crystal clear tone and beautifully shaped phrases.” Her most recent project, Wind and Bow, recorded with members of the Kansas City Symphony, features rarely recorded works for clarinet and string quartet. She was also recently featured on the Brazilian album Choro Joiado.

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With Mariam Adam, she is a founder of the AdZel Duo, a group establishing new dialogues through music. The ensemble has commissioned and recorded works by contemporary composers and created concerts with writers that incorporate spoken word and sound. Their debut album entitled AdZel received praise from The Clarinet for its “compelling unity of sound and excellent ensemble." Their next project, All Rivers at Once, will be released by Post Haus Acoustic in Fall 2026. 

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Previous faculty positions include the University of Wyoming and the University of Northern Colorado. She has appeared at multiple International Clarinet Association ClarinetFests as an invited artist and headliner at other festivals and conferences. Dr. Zelnick has served on numerous International Clarinet Association committees, the artistic committees of the 2008 and 2016 ClarinetFests, and has hosted the latter event at the University of Kansas. She has been a faculty member at the Chautauqua Institution, Sunflower Music Festival, Oklahoma Arts Institute at Quartz Mountain, the Wyoming Festival, and the Rocky Ridge Music Festival. She is Artist Faculty at the LA Philharmonic YOLA National, and has also worked with students in numerous El Sistema-type programs, including Orkidstra in Ottawa, Canada; The People's Music School in Chicago; and Red de Músicas de Medellín in Colombia.

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Dr. Zelnick enjoys pushing the boundaries of music through her scholarship and research projects. Her article, "High Altitude Music," was published in Sage Publication's Wilderness and Environmental Medicine. She has published featured articles in The Clarinet including "The High Altitude Clarinetist" and "Notable Women Clarinetists Born Before 1950." Her presentation with Dr. Anne Piirainen entitled "Obstacles and Open Doors: Female Clarinet Pioneers in the Mid-20th Century" was recently featured at the University of the Arts in Helsinki and at the Hall Center for the Humanities. She also regularly contributes guest blog posts for organizations such as the Associated Chamber Music Players. Recent presentations include the University of Michigan, the University of Costa Rica, the Gender and Musicianship Conference in Helsinki, Nationellt Blåsmusikcentrum in Sweden, and the Women's Work in Music Conference at Bangor University in Wales.

 

Drawing on her experience as a triathlete, ultramarathoner, and a former mountain guide on Colorado's 14ers, Dr. Zelnick is currently finishing the first book on high altitude musical performance. She is challenging the norms of classical music by playing concerts on the highest peaks in the Rockies, highlighting works by new composers at the intersection of music and nature. She has performed on the summits of Mt. Bierstadt (14,065 feet), Mt. Audubon (13,229 feet), and Pikes Peak (14,115 feet). On September 9, 2024, Dr. Zelnick performed the highest recorded classical music concert in the Rocky Mountains on Mt. Elbert at 14,439 feet. The feat caught the attention of news outlets, including Westword Magazine, 9 News Denver, the Colorado Sun, and the Colorado Springs Gazette. She has since become a leading expert in high altitude music, presenting at venues that include University of Colorado and Vanderbilt University. 

 

She has worked with some of the freshest composers in contemporary music to create new classics for the clarinet, recording in evocative and unconventional settings as an artist-in-residence at the University of Wyoming National Park Service field station in the Grand Tetons, Neptune Mountaineering, and Volland. She is a member of the National Peer Review Committee for the J. William Fulbright Committee and was a Fulbright Grant recipient in the Czech Republic. Dr. Zelnick is a Buffet Crampon Artist and Clinician and a Vandoren Artist.

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