Carrie RavenStem – Past Concerts

Carrie RavenStem is the clarinetist and co-founder of contemporary chamber ensemble A/Tonal and clarinet duo La HERmandad. Her mission includes introducing audiences to living composers, commissioning new works, and creating an inviting space for others to experience contemporary music.
Carrie recently commissioned 4 local Louisville composers to write new pieces for her and A/Tonal, works by composers Daniel Gilliam, Frederick Speck, Jeremy Beck, and Erich Stem. These works premiered at the Kentucky Center for the Arts in May of 2018. A fifth work, Perceptions of Strife, was written for her by Peter Felice and premiered in 2011. It was performed at ICA's ClarinetFest 2019 in Knoxville, Tennessee. She and A/Tonal had the distinct honor of performing her commission by Daniel Gilliam for American novelist and poet Wendell Berry, whose text was used in the work The Porch over the River. Her solo commission, Firefly, received its world premiere in April 2022 with Indiana University Southeast Concert Band. The work, commissioned by Indiana University Southeast Concert Band, and composed by Erich Stem, brings a new addition to the E-flat clarinet and concert band repertoire.

The La HERmandad clarinet duo with Backun Artist Adria Sutherland made their virtual debut in Spring of 2021 at the International Clarinet Association’s Clariedoscope Virtual Festival. At the 2022 International Clarinet Association Clarinetfest in Lake Tahoe, La HERmandad presented the world premiere of The Mountain, commissioned by the duo and composed by Jenni Brandon, which is based on the poem My Help is in the Mountain by Nancy Wood.

Carrie is currently on faculty at Indiana University Southeast, and teaches in Shelby County schools as well as Jefferson County schools. She has performed with several orchestras and ensembles including the Louisville Orchestra, Evansville Philharmonic Orchestra, Louisville Chamber Winds, Sacred Winds, the Louisville Ballet and the Kentucky Opera. Carrie recently performed at the world's first virtual woodwind festival, WoodWindFest 2020, as a guest artist of Silverstein Works. She is a Backun Performing Artist and performs on Backun clarinets, a Silverstein Artist and performs on the Hexa Clarinet Ligature – Gen. 5, and her reed of choice is Légère.

When she's not practicing, Carrie is the mom to a blended family of 4 kids, 3 cats, 2 hedgehogs, and the wife of 1 composer. Her secret hobby is crocheting, she’s the Den Mom for her little guy's Cub Scout pack, and she makes killer omelets.