Paradise Winds
Egide Duo
Dr. Stefanie Harger Gardner is an active professional clarinetist in the Phoenix Metropolitan Area, where she is on the faculty at Glendale Community College, maintains a large private clarinet studio, and hosts summer chamber music workshops. Previously she has served on the faculty at Northern Arizona University, Mesa Community College, and GateWay Community College. Gardner frequently performs with the internationally recognized Paradise Winds, Égide Duo, Seventh Roadrunner, Arizona Opera, and the Phoenix Symphony. She has performed in conferences for the International Clarinet Association, the International Double Reed Society, the North American Saxophone Alliance, the International Viola Society, and abroad in Belgium, France, Italy, and Japan. In addition to performing and teaching, Gardner has a strong interest in woodwind pedagogy. In 2012, she won first prize at the International Clarinet Association Research Competition with her study, “An Investigation of Finger Motion and Hand Posture during Clarinet Performance,” where Gardner collaborated with the Center for Cognitive Ubiquitous Computing at Arizona State University to study hand posture and finger motion during clarinet performance using CyberGloves®.
Paradise Winds
Gardner is the bass clarinetist for the Paradise Winds Reed Quintet based in Phoenix, AZ. Recently, they released Live Beneath Stained Glass (2016), a Blues/Funk collaboration with the Jackie Myers Band. Journey on a Comet’s Tail, an album of entirely original commissioned works for reed quintet, will be released in late 2017. Advocates of original repertoire, the Paradise Winds have commissioned works by James Cohn, Deborah Kavasch, John Marvin, Robbie McCarthy, Kurt Mehlenbacher, Alyssa Morris, Tom Peterson, Kincaid Rabb, and premiered the first North American concerto grosso for reed quintet and orchestra by Graham Cohen. Paradise Winds actively tours, records, and holds residencies across the globe.
Égide Duo
As agents of new repertoire, Égide Duo’s mission is to encourage music that addresses social change, including issues involving the environment/climate, animal and human rights, and equality. They aim to provide clear and pointed musical commentary on issues that impact our society today and tomorrow in an effort to draw attention to and encourage active public engagement on such issues. Joshua and Stefanie Gardner have commissioned works by Eric Mandat, Kurt Mehlenbacher, Jon Russell, John Steinmetz, and others dedicated to affecting social change through music.
Gardner completed B.M., M.M., and D.M.A. degrees in clarinet performance at Arizona State University studying with Robert Spring. She is a Silverstein Pro Team Artist and a Henri Selmer Paris/Conn Selmer Artist performing on Privilege clarinets.
gardnerclarinetstudio@gmail.com