Past Experiences, Future Innovations
Denise began her musical career with clarinet lessons in the fifth grade. She continued lessons through high school and into college where she majored in clarinet performance at Grand Valley State University in Allendale, MI. While at GVSU she studied with renowned clarinetist Dr. Arthur Campbell a student of the legendary Robert Marcellus. While attending GVSU and for a year after graduation, Denise worked as a clarinet teacher for a local music store. Here she discovered her passion for working one on one with students so she could cater lessons to each individual student’s needs.
Her time as a music major sparked her interest in musicology. In 2018, after winning a graduate teaching assistantship, she pursued a Masters of Music History at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. With a main research focus in film music, she wrote her thesis under the advising of Dr. Anthony Bushard producing the document titled Thematic Development in John Powell’s score for How to Train Your Dragon (2010). While at UNL she performed as principal clarinet for the UNL Symphonic band in Spring 2019 and had plans to premiere works by composition students in the spring of 2020.
Her studies next took her to the University of Kansas where she currently resides as a GTA and Ph.D. student in musicology. Additionally, she is pursuing a music enterprise certificate to further broaden her musical horizons outside of academia. She already has experience working for a small arts management company in Lincoln, NE from November 2019 until August 2020. While at Arts Inc. Denise served mainly as music librarian for the Nebraska Jazz Orchestra and Lincoln Municipal Band both of which are managed by Arts Inc. She also spent time organizing social media pages and editing grant applications as well as performing office-related tasks including the use of Microsoft Word’s “mail merge” for donor letters.
Denise remains intrigued with music performance, teaching, musicology, and Arts Management. Combining these interests with her studies at KU she stays busy with a variety of jobs. As a GTA in the KU musicology department, she assists professors with grading and preparing lessons for undergraduate students. Denise also works as a recording technician and videographer in the KU School of Music where she tapes auditions and recitals for students and professors. Here, she works with state-of-the-art equipment and editing software including Protools and Final Cut Pro. Additionally, Denise interned at the Lied Center of Kansas in Spring of 2021 where she worked with the ticketing software Audience View and learned more about the inner workings of a prestigious Performing Arts Center. She also freelances as a clarinet teacher and editor of academic writing.