Amanda McCandless

Amanda McCandless joined the faculty of the University of Northern Iowa in 2008 and since that time has built one of the largest and most successful clarinet studios in the region.

McCandless has performed recitals throughout the U.S. and abroad. Recently, she appeared as a guest soloist with the UNI Wind Symphony on their tour of northern Italy.  She has also been a guest artist and teacher at the Universidade de Brasília (Brazil), the Universidade Federal de Goiás (Brazil), the Bolivian National Conservatory of Music in La Paz, Bolivia and at the University of Puerto Rico Mayaguez .  She has been a guest artist at many international, national and regional clarinet events, including the International Clarinet Association’s ClarinetFest 2012 and 2010, the 2011 NACWPI National Convention, the University of Oklahoma Clarinet Symposium, Michigan State University’s Clarinet Spectacular and the Eastern Kentucky University Clarinet Festival.  She has been a guest recitalist and clinician at many universities in the US, including the University of New Mexico, the University of Wisconsin at Madision, the State University of New York at Fredonia, and the University of Wisconsin at Stevens Point.

McCandless was a finalist in the Fischoff National Chamber Music Competition and was twice a finalist in the International Clarinet Association’s Young Artist Competition. She was a winner of the 2004 Michigan State University Concerto Competition, performing Joan Tower’s Clarinet Concerto. She has performed in the Greater Lansing Symphony Orchestra, the Midland Symphony Orchestra, the Grand Forks Symphony Orchestra, the Waterloo/Cedar Falls Symphony Orchestra, and performed as principal clarinet in the Tulsa Symphony Orchestra and the Tulsa Ballet Orchestra.

McCandless holds a Doctor of Musical Arts degree and Master of Music degree from Michigan State University, where she was a student of Elsa Ludewig-Verdehr. She holds a Bachelor of Music degree from Eastern Kentucky University, where she was a student of Connie Rhoades. She has also studied with Theodore Oien, Charles Neidich, Colin Lawson and Peter Jenkin. McCandless has previously held teaching positions at Northeastern (OK) State University, Indiana University South Bend, Bemidji (MN) State University and Michigan State University’s Community Music School.

Dr. McCandless's first solo CD, Unaccompanied Clarinet Works by Women Composers, was released in 2012 on the Mark Records label. It is available on i-Tunes, Amazon.com or directly from the record label.