Beth Hildenbrand is clarinetist, pedagogue, and music educator based out of Central Illinois. A native of Fairbury, Beth holds a master’s degree in Music Performance as well as Bachelor of Music Education and Performance degrees from Illinois State University. Throughout her 7 years at ISU and as a member of David Gresham’s studio, Beth performed extensively in the university’s most prestigious ensembles and in the 2016 CBDNA Intercollegiate Honor Band as the principal clarinetist, an E-flat clarinetist, and a bass clarinetist, and she can be heard on numerous award-winning recordings of the ISU Wind Symphony published by Naxos, Klavier, and Albany Records. Additionally, she collaborated with many luminaries including David Maslanka, Eugene Corporon, Dale Clevenger, John Mackey, Gary Green, Jennifer Higdon, Michael Colgrass, and many others. Currently, Beth performs as the principal clarinetist in the Midwest Institute of Opera (MiO) Festival Orchestra, and she also regularly performs with ensembles & organizations throughout Central Illinois. For the 2017 Symposium for Contemporary Music at Illinois Wesleyan University, Beth played alongside faculty for Judith Shatin’s dramatic song cycle Vayter un Vayter, and she performed as the featured soloist with the Prairie Wind Ensemble in 2019.
In addition to her life as a performer, Beth is a passionate music educator & clarinet pedagogue. She has maintained a dedicated studio of clarinetists, bass clarinetists, and saxophonists for nearly 20 years. As a teaching assistant during her graduate studies, Beth taught university clarinet students privately, taught courses in clarinet technique & fundamentals, and assisted in teaching music history courses. She teaches clarinet master classes and sectionals at all levels at schools & festivals throughout Central Illinois and also regularly adjudicates auditions for ILMEA, IESA, IGSMA, IHSA, and various schools & music programs. Beth’s students have grown to perform & pursue degrees in music at the university level, placed within honor ensembles at both district & state levels for ILMEA, achieved “Superior” and “Best of Day” honors for Solo & Ensemble events, and placed highly within their respective schools’ music programs. She is a member of the International Clarinet Association, the National Association for Music Education, and the Bloomington-Normal Music Teachers’ Association.