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kelly
clingan
About Me.
I am a teacher and performer with over two decades of experience in transformative music education. With a unique background in music and women studies, I am committed to driving gender and racial equity forward through music, from the beginning classroom to the professional stage. Join me in reimagining music education that links artistic excellence to empowerment and social justice.
Education
1997-2004
University of Washington
Bachelor of Music
Bachelor of Trombone Performance
Bachelor of Women Studies
Teaching Certification
Senior Thesis of the Year "An Exploration of Women's Jazz: Community Building and Empowerment" (New Girls on the Block)
"Thanks for everything you bring to your students and to this music program. Your humor, your enthusiasm, your ability to believe in them and relate to them, to take them seriously without being 'serious'. My daughter's middle school experience was you and music at WMS-everything else was waiting. I am pretty certain you have changed the course of her life"
- Washington Middle School music parent
"Being a part of the Girls Ellington Project has really inspired me to be a stronger musician as well as a stronger woman –
to not take crap from anyone who says I can't do something and to put all of myself into my music because that's what really makes it music."
-JazzED student
"You have such a fresh approach. You’re direct and unapologetic and yet you bring everyone along with your good humor."
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