photo by Shaya Lyon
Seattle-based clarinetist Rachel Yoder performs in a variety of solo, chamber, and large ensemble roles, including with the Seattle Modern Orchestra, Sound Ensemble, and Odd Partials clarinet/electronics duo. She leads a thriving clarinet studio at Western Washington University and serves as editor of The Clarinet, journal of the International Clarinet Association.
Known for her fearless approach to music of the 20th and 21st centuries, Rachel enjoys improvising, composing, and exploring the intersection of experimental music and performance art. She frequently collaborates with composers, recently premiering clarinet works by William O. Smith and Joël-François Durand. Her duo Odd Partials, with composer and electronic musician Greg Dixon, has since 2012 presented interactive works for clarinet and electronics at events including the Sound Culture Adventures Festival (Bellingham, WA), Wayward Music Series (Seattle), New Frontiers Festival (Laramie, WY), and the Society for Electroacoustic Music in the U.S. conference (St. Paul, MN). As a composer, Rachel’s works for clarinet and electronics (Aspects/Respects, Self-Seed, and Domestic Loops) have been heard at international ClarinetFest conferences, and her live recording of Steve Reich’s New York Counterpoint at the Classical KING-FM studios was featured on NPR’s “Performance Today.”
Rachel is also an avid chamber musician, most recently performing Messiaen’s Quartet for the End of Time at Seattle’s St. Mark’s Cathedral and Cornish College of the Arts in 2024. With the Madera Wind Quintet, Rachel 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.
As a frequently-called player for orchestras in the Pacific Northwest, Rachel has performed with groups including the Yakima Symphony Orchestra, Federal Way Symphony, North Corner Chamber Orchestra, Vashon Opera, Seattle Metropolitan Chamber Orchestra, Seattle Pro Musica, Sound Ensemble, and the Emerald Ballet Theatre.
Rachel enjoys educating musicians of all ages, including undergraduate and graduate students at Western Washington University, and adult students and young learners in her private studio. She was invited to give virtual masterclasses and presentations during the pandemic at the Encontro Feminino de Clarinetistas (Brazil), the University of Northern Alabama, and Ithaca College. Rachel has served as guest coach with the Seattle Youth Symphony, Bellevue Youth Symphony, and Cascade Youth Symphony, and also taught for Seattle JazzEd. As an adjudicator, Rachel served on the panel for the Witold Friemann International Clarinet Competition in 2022.
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.
Previous teaching posts have included the Digipen Institute of Technology (music theory, chamber music, and clarinet), Whatcom Community College, 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, with mentorship in new music by Elizabeth McNutt and William O. Smith.
Contact rachelyoder [at] gmail.com
