Emily Cook
A native of rural western Illinois, Emily Cook is a dynamic performer and educator based in Pittsburgh, PA and Bloomington, IN. She currently serves as principal clarinetist of the Evansville Philharmonic and Carmel Symphony Orchestra, bass clarinetist with the Johnstown Symphony Orchestra, and third clarinetist of the Champaign-Urbana Symphony Orchestra; formerly, she held positions with the Akron Symphony Orchestra and the Richmond (VA) Symphony Orchestra. In recent seasons, she has also performed with the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, Louisville Orchestra, Chamber Orchestra of Pittsburgh, Sinfonia da Camera (IL), West Virginia Symphony Orchestra, Wheeling Symphony Orchestra, and Terre Haute Symphony Orchestra. Emily is dedicated to performing new music, serving as the clarinetist and artistic director of Kamratōn, which has premiered over 50 works for mixed chamber ensemble since its founding in 2015, including three of her own. Emily has also appeared with jazz/fusion group the Afro-Yaqui Music Collective and is active in Pittsburgh’s free improvisation community.
Emily received an artist diploma and a master’s degree from Duquesne University, where she studied with Ron Samuels and served as a graduate assistant in the music history and theory departments. Previously, Emily studied with David Bell at Lawrence University, graduating with degrees in K-12 music education and clarinet performance. Her other teachers include Jack Howell, Larry McDonald, Eric Ginsberg, and Louis Margaglione. She has presented research blending music theory and performance studies on the work of Kaija Saariaho at the CUNY Graduate Center and at SUNY-Buffalo.
Emily serves as adjunct instructor of clarinet at Chatham University (Pittsburgh, PA) and previously served as a sabbatical replacement for the clarinet studio at Millikin University (Decatur, IL) and as middle-school instrumental music instructor at St. Vincent School in Bedford, IN. Apart from music, Emily enjoys spending time with her husband Jeffrey Turner, professor of double bass at Indiana University’s Jacobs School of Music, and her two wonderful stepchildren. She also enjoys hiking, gardening, and birding.
