Photo credit: Anna Dougherty |
Meghan Yankowskas is an upbeat performer with a passion for many different musical styles, regardless of the instrument, microphone, or music technology in her possession. She serves full-time, active duty as a clarinetist in the United States Air Force Bands; currently, she performs with the United States Air Forces in Europe Band. Additionally, she has served as a member of Third Millennium World’s Fair, an experimental folk tribute to St. Louis that has performed at events such as Make Music St. Louis, the Webster Arts Fair, and Showcase STL. Yankowskas' accomplishments include presenting and performing at the 2019 Sunny Clarinet Festival in Zhytomyr, Ukraine, clinching second place in the MyAirForceLife Worldwide Talent Competition, multiple solo performances with the Merrimack Valley Philharmonic Orchestra, attending Fifth House Ensemble’s Fresh Inc. festival, and many recitals and master classes around the globe.
Always striving to create something new and unique, Yankowskas uses technology as a tool to enhance her performance capabilities, whether it be through composing electronic music, utilizing live loops and other effects, or incorporating pre-recorded material, such as interviews, into an entire recital. In 2019, she presented her lecture, “Beep-Boops and You: Combining Electronics with ‘Classical’ Instruments 101” at the International Clarinet Association’s ClarinetFest in Knoxville, TN. She can be seen performing original electronic music and video game multi-track covers through her social media pages in her spare time. As a teacher, Yankowskas’ experiences have ranged from beginning private lessons to coaching college chamber groups and running studio classes as a graduate assistant. She spreads her enthusiasm for clarinet and other music stylings through master classes and presentations around the world. Much of her teaching philosophy lies on not only guiding her students to be better clarinetists and musicians, but also finding ways to apply their lesson skills extramusically. She has previously served as the clarinet professor at Southwestern Illinois College in Belleville, IL. Yankowskas is a New Hampshire native and attended the University of New Hampshire and Bowling Green State University, studying clarinet under Dr. Elizabeth Gunlogson and Kevin Schempf respectively. Her other interests involve thrift shopping, snuggling her two cats (Marla and Pancake) and hand-crafting corny puns. For further inquiries, please contact myankowskas@gmail.com |