Classique
Kimberly Cole Luevano
With reviews such as “a most skillful artist” (Fanfare Magazine), “breathtaking…” (The Clarinet), “virtuosic tone and technique” (Tampa Bay Times), “exceptionally sensitive and introspective rendition” (The Clarinet), Kimberly Cole Luevano continually establishes herself as a formidable soloist and chamber musician.
Originally from Albuquerque, New Mexico, where she studied with Keith Lemmons, Kimberly Cole Luevano studied in Paris, France, with Guy Deplus and Alain Damiens as the recipient of a US Government Fulbright Grant and a Kade Fellowship.
Luevano was a prizewinner in competitions such as the International Clarinet Association Young Artist Competition, the Oklahoma City Young Artists Competition, and the Coleman Chamber Music Competition. She earned degrees at Michigan State University where she studied with Elsa Ludewig-Verdehr and the University of North Texas where she studied with James Gillespie. Prior to her appointment at the University of North Texas, she was Professor of Clarinet at Eastern Michigan University for fifteen years.
Luevano joined the University of North Texas faculty in 2011 and served as a member of the clarinet faculty at the Interlochen Arts Camp from 2003 to 2012. She was Pedagogy Chairperson for the International Clarinet Association from 2012 to 2014; has presented acclaimed solo and chamber performances, adjudicated, and presented master classes on four continents; and has performed at the International Clarinet Association’s ClarinetFest® on numerous occasions. Her students have been prize winners in international competitions, and former students now occupy performing and teaching positions throughout the United States and Canada.
With pianist Midori Koga and soprano Lindsay Kesselman, she forms the trio, Haven, "A refuge for the creation of new music for soprano, clarinet, and piano.” Haven’s latest recording, Twinge, has been released in 2019. She is also a founding member of TrioPolis, a clarinet, violin, and piano trio. Luevano’s disc of world premiere recordings with Haven, Atonement, was released on the Fleur de Son label in 2015 and was considered in the Grammy nomination process. Haven garnered commissioning grants from the Ontario Arts Council in 2016 and the Chamber Music America Classical Commissioning program in 2015. Another world premiere compact disc featuring American works for clarinet and piano, Bright Angel, was released in 2013 on the Fleur de Son label to critical acclaim : Naxos Deutschland wrote “vibrant, and shine through superb motivic work" while Sequenza 21 wrote, “their performances are exquisite as is their ensemble chemistry…”. TrioPolis One, a disc of world premiere recordings was released in 2018, and Luevano is also featured in numerous other chamber music releases on the Albany and Centaur labels, among others. A versatile freelance musician, Luevano has performed as a member of the Michigan Opera Theater Orchestra, as principal clarinetist of the Ann Arbor, Lansing, Toledo, and Traverse Symphony Orchestras, with the Detroit and Windsor Symphony Orchestras, and with Keith Brion’s New Sousa Band, among others. As an advocate of contemporary American repertoire, Luevano spearheaded consortiums to commission works for clarinet from composers Evan Chambers and Roshanne Etezady and recorded Michael Daugherty’s Brooklyn Bridge with the UNT Wind Symphony in 2015 for distribution on the GIA label.
Luevano plays and endorses Henri SELMER Paris instruments. She resides in Corinth with her husband and two teen-aged sons who still like to watch TV with her.
Photo credit: Bo Huang.
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