SHS clarinetist to be featured soloist during upcoming Brass Ensemble & Symphony Band of Sheridan College performance

Skyler Shields began playing the clarinet in the third grade, after being told she was too small to hold a saxophone, the instrument she really wanted to learn. But it didn’t take long for her love of the clarinet to spark. After receiving the instrument, she spent the evening going over finger positions and notes in her little red beginners book. 

Her grandfather really liked the Dixieland clarinet sounds of Benny Goodman and Pete Fountain; giants of swing and jazz clarinet. Her mother still has pictures of Shields, wearing a fedora hat as she swung around the house with her instrument. Since that time she’s worked to pursue and acquire more knowledge, refine technique and grow with her clarinet. 

Two years ago, Shields became a student of retired educator and life-long clarinetist Don Cherni.

D. Cherni

“Doc,” refers to Sheridan College Director of Bands and Jazz Studies Dr. Eric Richards. A gifted composer and musician himself, Richards said the clarinet solo of Carl Maria von Weber’s Concertino, which Shields will be performing, makes a lot of demands from the soloist. 

Dr. E. Richards

The solo is part of the upcoming performance of the Brass Ensemble & Symphony Band of Sheridan College. The show begins at 4 p.m. Sunday, March 9, in Kinnison Hall at the Whitney Center for the Arts. The event is free and open to the public.

As for Shields, she has applied to a few colleges to pursue her music. She’s not sure where that will be as of yet, but she knows it will be with her clarinet.

S. Shields

Music that began with a little girl, a little red beginners book and a fedora hat.