About
Vanessa Davis is a clarinetist based in Dallas. She performs in and around the Dallas-Fort Worth area of Texas. She is a clarinetist with the Lone Star Wind Orchestra and the second and Eb clarinet of the Mesquite Symphony. She is an active freelance musician in the DFW Metroplex and has performed with the Las Colinas Symphony, Longview Symphony, Allen Philharmonic, and Texarkana Symphony among others. Prior to that, she was the third and bass clarinetist of the Orchestra of the Southern Finger Lakes, while actively performing throughout the Finger Lakes and the Boston areas.
A committed teacher and mentor, Vanessa helps students reach their goals through careful planning, guided practice, and consistency at McLennan College (Applied Clarinet and Chamber Music) and North Central Texas College (Applied Clarinet and Music Appreciation). She also works as a Clarinet Specialist in select and competitive Texas school programs. She is passionate about preparing students for the future that awaits them outside of school and actively encourages them to look outside the box to create a career that supports their passions and interests.
Vanessa is an active member of the clarinet community. She served as Chair of the International Clarinet Association College and Pre-Professional Engagement Committee from 2022 - 2024. Prior to that she served at Chair of the Youth Committee, from 2020 - 2022. She regularly performs at the organization’s annual international gathering, ClarinetFest®. As a writer, she has contributed to The Clarinet Journal, the National Association of College Wind and Percussion Instructors Journal, the Symposium Journal of the College Music Society, and The Instrumentalist. Vanessa currently serves as the Audio Reviews Editor for the NACWPI Journal.
Vanessa is a Buffet Crampon USA Performing Artist and a D’Addario Woodwind Artist. She holds a Doctorate in Clarinet Performance from the University of North Texas, where she worked in the Music Education and Wind Studies Departments. Her dissertation, A Concept-Based Pedagogy Approach to Selected Unaccompanied Clarinet Repertoire, won the Toulouse Dissertation Award in Fine Arts in 2018. She studied with Dr. Kimberly Cole Luevano and Daryl Coad. She has studied with Richard MacDowell, Elizabeth Gunlogson, Richard Faria, and David Seiler. She currently resides in Cedar Hill with her husband and their two dogs, Charlie and Penelope.
Education
University of North Texas
Doctor of Musical Arts in Clarinet Performance
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Awarded Toulouse Dissertation Award in Fine Arts
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Teaching Fellow in Wind Studies and Music Education
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Cognate Field: Music Education
Ithaca College
Master of Music in Clarinet Performance
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Teaching Assistant in Clarinet Methods and Music Education
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Performed with the Orchestra of the Southern Finger Lakes
Master of Music in Music Performance
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Teaching Assistant in Music History
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Taught Music History and Appreciation, a Fine Arts General Education course
Bachelor of Music in Music Education
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Magna cum laude graduate
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Taught privately in local schools
University of New Hampshire