Amelia Clingman
Viola
Amelia Clingman graduated from UMass Amherst with a BM in violin performance, and in 2008 she completed her Master’s degree in viola performance at the New England Conservatory. She has attended the Killington, Musicorda, Heifetz, and Kneisel Hall music festivals, and served as a fellow at the Tanglewood Music Center from 2007-2009. During her time in Boston, she performed with various groups including the Boston Modern Orchestra Project, the Boston Philharmonic Orchestra, and as a substitute with the New World Symphony. In 2014, she was named a Quarterfinalist in the 14th Primrose International Viola Competition. During the summer, Amelia is Principal Viola at the Britt Festival in Jacksonville, Oregon.
As an avid chamber musician, Amelia became a founding member of the New Orleans-based Polymnia Quartet in 2015. She is also a new music enthusiast, and has taken part in many world premiere performances. In other genres, she has played with pop and rock artists, including Kanye West, Peter Gabriel, and Mumford and Sons. Amelia teaches violin and viola lessons privately but has also served as a teaching assistant in a range of environments, from Holyoke, MA public school system to the School for Strings Chamber Music Workshop in New York City. In recent years, she has worked in various school music programs in New Orleans, through a grant from the Jazz and Heritage Foundation.
Amelia joined the Louisiana Philharmonic orchestra in 2008 and lives in New Orleans. Teachers include Marylou Speaker Churchill, James Buswell, Ed Gazouleas, Carol Rodland, and Kathryn Lockwood.