Rachel Yoder
About
Rachel Yoder currently serves as editor of The Clarinet, quarterly journal of the International Clarinet Association; instructor of clarinet at Western Washington University; and adjunct professor of music at the DigiPen Institute of Technology. She is based in the Seattle area, where recent performances and collaborations include the Seattle Modern Orchestra, Yakima Symphony Orchestra, Federal Way Symphony, The Sound Ensemble, and recording of Steve Reich’s New York Counterpoint at the Classical KING-FM studios that has been featured on NPR.
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 a guest artist at the virtual Encontro Feminino de Clarinetistas (Brazil) and the University of Northern Alabama Clarinet Day (virtual). Recent composer collaborations include premieres of clarinet works by William O. Smith and Joël-François Durand.
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. She can also be heard on several recordings of the University of North Texas Wind Symphony (GIA Publications).
As a writer and researcher, Rachel’s publications include several interviews and articles in The Clarinet, most recently “Clarinet Playing During Pregnancy and the Postpartum Period” (June 2022). She was a finalist in the International Clarinet Association Research Competition in 2011 with her work on performance practice of interactive music for clarinet and computer.
Rachel also enjoys educating musicians of all ages, including in her private studio and as guest coach with the Seattle Youth Symphony and Cascade Youth Symphony. She has taught for Seattle JazzEd, and also adjudicated the Witold Friemann International Clarinet Competition in 2022.
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.