BIOGRAPHY
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My name is Elizabeth Owens. I graduated from Olmsted Falls High School in 2002 and I am currently a senior music education major at The University of Akron. My “musical journey” began when I was 9 and I began taking private clarinet lessons with Laurene Young. I have to admit that, unlike most music majors I know, I really didn’t have much interest in music as a child. I can remember days in elementary school when I didn’t want to go to school because I had music that day; I can also remember crying to my parents how terrible my music class was. Despite this, when my parents asked me if I wanted to be in the band, I said yes. We went to a music store and the owner played each of the different instruments for me – except the clarinet. He did show it to me, and I ended up choosing to play clarinet. After taking lessons for a year, and then joining the fifth grade band the next, I began to really develop an interest in music. I was involved with both band and choir throughout middle school and high school, and I spent much of my free time participating in musical activities. I studied clarinet privately with Melissa Fucci, and in high school I began piano lessons with her, also. During high school, I was a four-year member of the Olmsted Falls Concert Band, as well as the Bulldog Marching Band. I served as a saxophone squad leader for two years, and clarinet section leader my senior year. I also played saxophone in the jazz band, and clarinet in the Baldwin-Wallace Senior Youth Orchestra. In the choral area, I sang in the Olmsted Falls Freshman Choir, then auditioned for the Senior Choir my sophomore year and spent the next three years there. In addition to Senior Choir, I auditioned for Golden Expressions, a vocal jazz ensemble, and was a member during my senior year. Over the summer months, I attended several music camps. In 1998, I went to the Baldwin-Wallace Summer Music Clinic for woodwinds, then again in 2001 for voice. I attended the Bowling Green Summer Music Clinic in 1999 for both clarinet and piano. In winter, I always participated in solo and ensemble contests. Each year I performed a clarinet solo and a piano solo, as well as in several instrumental and vocal ensembles. I was a three-year participant in the Southwest Conference Honors Band, and I received the Patrick S. Gilmore Award for outstanding contribution to the high school’s concert band. In the School of Music at
the I chose to major in music education because my own experience in music has had such a large impact on my life. Over the years I have had so many influential music teachers; I hope to someday use music to give to others what my teachers gave to me. I believe that everyone can benefit from a music education – there are so many opportunities to grow and learn through music. My goal is to make music a positive experience for my students, and to help them use the performing arts to improve their lives. |
