About
Erin Cameron enjoys a diverse career as a clarinetist, composer, and educator. She serves as Assistant Professor of Clarinet at Arkansas State University in Jonesboro, Arkansas. Cameron has worked with young musicians and artists at the Arkansas Governor’s School, The Walden School in Dublin (New Hampshire), and as a Teaching Fellow at the University of North Texas. She is regularly sought out as a guest artist and clinician and has presented recitals and master classes across the United States.
An avid proponent of new music, she has performed over 40 world and regional premieres of new works. Cameron was featured at the 2021 and 2022 International Clarinet Association ClarinetFest Conference as both a performer and composer. She was the winner of the 2020 Victoria Bach Festival Competition in Victoria, Texas and presented a winner’s recital in November 2021. She has also performed at the International Music by Women Festival, the Darkwater Womxn in Music Festival, the Bowling Green State University New Music Festival, the Northwestern University New Music Conference, the University of Nebraska Kearney New Music Festival, and was an invited performer at the Lucerne Festival Orchestra in Lucerne, Switzerland (cancelled due to COVID-19).
She is featured on three recent albums, Charm the Winds with chamber ensemble Sonoren, love songs/duets by Kory Reeder on Wandelweiser Records, and Hope with the North Texas Wind Symphony on GIA Publications. She is a founding member of the Bantam Winds, an all-female chamber ensemble in Jonesboro, Arkansas, which brings unique performances to international audiences and focuses on works by underrepresented composers for the instrumentation of flute, oboe, clarinet, saxophone, and horn. She is also a founding member of the free improvisation trio Sonoren and has performed with the F-Plus Trio.
Cameron’s recent article Free Solo: Concealed Treasures in the Solo Bass Clarinet Commissions of Harry Sparnaay was featured in the September 2022 issue of The Clarinet magazine, and her audio reviews are regularly featured in the International Clarinet Association’s The Clarinet [Online]. She holds degrees from the University of North Texas, Bowling Green State University, and Northwestern University.
Performance Highlights
In summer 2022, Cameron performed Chuchichäschtli by Charles Halka with Scott Cameron, percussion, at the 2022 International Clarinet Association ClarinetFest Conference in Reno, Nevada. The conference also featured the premiere of Cameron’s new solo clarinet work, Disembodied Soul, written for Lucas Gianini.
As winner of the 2020-21 Victoria Bach Festival Emerging Artist Competition, Cameron was featured in a virtual concert on June 7, 2020 and performed a recital on November 7, 2021 at First United Methodist Church in Victoria, Texas.
Dr. Cameron has performed as a guest artist at East Tennessee State University, Truman State University, the Texas A&M Commerce Clarinet Colloquium, the University of Nebraska Kearney New Music Festival, the Bowling Green New Music Festival, and the Northwestern University New Music Conference. She has presented master classes across the United States, including at the University of North Carolina Greensboro, University of Arkansas, University of Delaware, Texas A&M University Kingsville, University of Virginia, Austin Peay State University, Kutztown University, and University of Texas Arlington.
Chamber Music Projects
Bantam Winds
The world’s premiere professional ensemble of flute, oboe, clarinet, saxophone and horn
Comprised of Arkansas State University faculty Stephanie Hoeckley (flute), Kristin Leitterman (oboe), Erin Cameron (clarinet), Elissa Kana (saxophone), and Juli Buxbaum (horn), this all-female ensemble was formed in August 2020 out of a desire to safely continue to make live music during the pandemic. This desire has now grown into a multi-faceted mission of bringing chamber music to digital audiences as well as exploring the creation of new works for this unique instrumentation, most notably spotlighting the works of underrepresented composers.
Named after the bantam, which may refer to a small and feisty person, boxer, or chicken, this spirited trio seeks to provide an active performance schedule promoting chamber music and educational outreach throughout Northeast Arkansas.
Sonoren
All-female free improvisation trio
Sonoren, comprised of members Sarah Jay (voice/electronics), Jessica Stearns (alto saxophone), and Erin Cameron (bass clarinet) is an all-female free improvisation trio.
The group’s name is a portmanteau of the words “siren” (both in reference to a loud warning signal and to mythical female sea creatures) and “sonorous” (as in, to sound). Sonoren’s sonic palette exists between contemporary classical music, free jazz, noise music, and electronic pop.
Their debut album, Charm the Winds, was released May 23, 2023 on Incongruent Records.
Erin Cameron 