Dr. Amy Simon
902.626.1526 • This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Registered Subjects: Clarinet (RMT)
Other areas of musical instruction: Flute, Saxophone, Rudiments, Advanced Theory, History of Music
Dr. Amy Simon is a clarinetist, woodwind specialist and music scholar. She returned to her hometown of Charlottetown in 2016 after many years of travel for study and performance. She holds a Masters degree in Music (Clarinet Performance) from the University of Victoria, and a PhD in Music (Ethnomusicology) from York University in Toronto, which she completed with the support of the prestigious Provost Dissertation Scholarship.
As a clarinetist, Amy has performed solo recitals on the east and west coasts of Canada as well as in pit orchestras for various musical productions. She toured for several years throughout Europe and North America as principal clarinetist in a classical Chinese dance show, performing about 100 shows a year. Amy has performed in master classes for such artists as Larry Combs, former principal clarinetist of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra; Eric Mandat, composer and specialist in extended techniques on clarinet; and Peter Veale, oboist and new music specialist. She has also studied with renowned saxophonist and composer David Mott, studio musician and pedagogue Patricia Kostek, and Patti Goodwin of Taplin-Weir.
Currently, Amy plays clarinet and bass clarinet with the Prince Edward Island Symphony Orchestra. She has taught Music & Culture at the University of Prince Edward Island, assisted with courses in Flute and Music & Culture at York University, and published academic articles on Japanese wind music and clarinet repertoire in the journals Asian Music, Analytical Approaches to World Music, and The Clarinet. Her research interests include extended techniques on woodwind instruments, East Asian wind performance techniques, and the Japanese shakuhachi flute and gagaku orchestra. Other projects include adjudicating the 2020 Dr. Frances Gray Music Performance Competition Finals at UPEI, and producing a forthcoming classical clarinet CD recording project.
Amy teaches private lessons in clarinet, flute, saxophone, oboe, bassoon and recorder, as well as music theory, history and analysis. Her students have won gold medals for their Royal Conservatory of Music exams, monetary awards at the provincial music festival and scholarships to study music at university. She teaches both in person and online.