Stefanie Gardner, D.M.A.

Biography

Dr. Stefanie Harger Gardner teaches clarinet, chamber music, and music theory at Glendale Community College and Ottawa University. Previously she served on the faculty at Northern Arizona University. Gardner maintains an active performance career, performing with Arizona Opera, the Phoenix Symphony, Red Rocks Chamber Music Festival, Seventh Roadrunner, the internationally recognized Paradise Winds, and grant-winning Égide Duo, whose mission is to commission, record, and perform music inspiring social change. She has performed in conferences for the International Clarinet Association, the International Double Reed Society, the North American Saxophone Alliance, and the International Viola Congress. Gardner's chamber music albums are recorded on the Soundset label and can be heard on iTunes, Spotify, and YouTube. In addition to performing and teaching, Gardner has a strong interest in woodwind pedagogy. In 2012, Gardner won first prize at the International Clarinet Association Research Competition with her study, "An Investigation of Finger Motion and Hand Posture during Clarinet Performance," where she collaborated with the Center for Cognitive Ubiquitous Computing at ASU to study hand posture and finger motion during clarinet performance using CyberGloves®. Recently, she was awarded "Outstanding Contributions in Private Teaching" by Arizona State University, and has been hired by Norton Publishing Company to review theory and aural skills textbooks. Dr. Gardner received Bachelor, Master, and Doctor of Musical Arts degrees in Clarinet Performance from Arizona State University studying with Robert Spring. Gardner is a Henri Selmer Paris/ConnSelmer Performing Artist playing Privilege clarinets, a Silverstein Pro Team Artist, and uses Selmer mouthpieces.

Paradise Winds Reed Quintet

Gardner's performance interests lie primarily in chamber music. Stefanie is the bass clarinetist for the Paradise Winds Reed Quintet based in Phoenix, AZ. Recently, they released Live Beneath Stained Glass (2016), a Blues/Funk collaboration with the Jackie Myers Band. Journey on a Comet's Tail, an album of entirely original commissioned works for reed quintet, was released in late 2017. Advocates of original repertoire, Paradise Winds has commissioned works by James Cohn, Deborah Kavasch, John Marvin, Robbie McCarthy, Kurt Mehlenbacher, Alyssa Morris, Don Owens, Tom Peterson, Kincaid Rabb, Jon Russell, and premiered the first North American concerto grosso for reed quintet and orchestra by Graham Cohen. Paradise Winds actively tours, records, and holds residencies across the globe.

Égide Duo

As agents of new repertoire, Égide Duo's mission is to collaborate with composers to create and present music that addresses social change, including issues involving the environment/climate, animal and human rights, and equality. The duo aims to provide clear and pointed musical commentary on issues that affect our society today and tomorrow in an effort to draw attention to and encourage active public engagement on such issues. Joshua and Stefanie Gardner have commissioned works by Eric Mandat, Kurt Mehlenbacher, Jon Russell, John Steinmetz, Joel Love, and others dedicated to effecting social change through music. The duo has been invited to perform at conferences for numerous organizations, including the International Clarinet Association and the College Music Society. Their recent performance at ClarinetFest 2019 was described as "powerful" with a "vibrant color palette and captivating quality" by the conference review team. They have appeared as guest artists throughout the US and in France.

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