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Dr. Shandra Helman
Assistant Professor of Music
Woodwind Area Coordinator
Telephone: (208) 282-3024
E-mail: helmsha2@isu.edu
Websites: Helman Music • Ensemble Périphérie • Rico Reeds
Degrees
- B.Mus. 2000, Lawrence University
- M.A. 2004, University of Iowa
- D.M.A. 2008, University of Wisconsin
Joined ISU Faculty in 2008.
Profile
Dr. Shandra Helman has taught applied clarinet and saxophone and served as the Woodwind Area Coordinator at Idaho State University since August 2008. Currently, her academic course rotation includes world music, American music, surveys of music history, woodwind methods, aural skills, instrumental pedagogy, clarinet pedagogy and literature, saxophone pedagogy and literature and advanced music history seminars.
While in Wisconsin, Shandra collaboratively premiered chamber works by Leslie Thimmig, Joseph Koykkar and Karl Henning. In 2004, she nationally premiered Natalia Mia for solo clarinet by Latin-American composer Maria Contreras and has since been featured as a solo guest artist with the Chicago Clarinet Ensemble, UW-Madison Wind Ensemble, UW-Madison Contemporary Chamber Ensemble and ISU Wind Ensemble.
Shandra’s research is primarily focused on the bass clarinet and its ever-expanding amount of published repertoire. For her final dissertation project at UW-Madison, she assembled an annotated bibliography of original unaccompanied bass clarinet works available through commercial publication as of March 2008.
Shandra was most recently appointed as 3rd/Bass Clarinet of the Boise Philharmonic Orchestra. In June 2010, she became the core clarinetist/bass clarinetist of Ensemble: Périphérie, a new music chamber group focused on commissioning, performing and recording works by lesser-known composers. Ensemble: Périphérie enjoyed its inaugural tour of the Midwest in April 2011, including performances at the University of Iowa, Coe College and the University of Minnesota-Morris. Shandra also serves as Principal Clarinet in the Idaho State-Civic Symphony and the Idaho Falls Symphony. Her extensive orchestral experience includes performances on clarinet and bass clarinet with the Madison Symphony Orchestra, Madison Opera and Ballet companies, Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra, Green Bay Symphony Orchestra, Cedar Rapids Symphony Orchestra and American Wind Symphony.
Her primary clarinet instructors include Linda Bartley (DMA, University of Wisconsin-Madison), Maurita Murphy Mead (MA, University of Iowa), Fan Lei (BM, Lawrence University) and Melvin Warner (private study, Northern Illinois University). Shandra has also participated in additional studies with Kalmen Opperman and Kenneth Grant and master classes with Elsa Ludewig Verdehr, Richard Stoltzman and Patrick O’Keefe.
Shandra has been a Rico Artist for bass clarinet reeds since May 2011. She currently resides in Pocatello, Idaho with husband and horn player, Michael, and their two Calico cats, Gracie and Hattie.