Sandra Jackson

About Sandra

Clarinetist Sandra Jackson is an international performer and clarinet instructor and an avid proponent of new music. Jackson is Professor of Clarinet at Eastern Michigan University and has been on the clarinet faculty at the prestigious Interlochen Arts Camp for more than 20 years.

An advocate of new music, Jackson has been involved with many new works for clarinet. She continues to participate in commissioning consortiums and performs premieres for solo and ensemble works by composers including James Stephenson, Roger Zare, Daniel Baldwin, and Amanda Harberg. World premieres include Zodiacal Light by Roger Zare and Deux Chanson by Adolphus Hailstork, both at Interlochen Center for the Arts, and Whispers and Evocations by Peter Terry at the ClarinetFest Conference in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.

Jackson can be heard on several recordings, including Chamber Music of Stephen Rush and Zae Munn’s They Were Mysterious Guests. Additionally, she can be heard on recordings with the Orquesta Sinfónica del Estado de México, where she was Principal Clarinet.

Jackson is a frequent soloist with the Eastern Michigan University Wind Symphony and Orchestra and has performed on basset horn and bass clarinet with the Detroit Chamber Winds. An active freelancer, she has performed with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Martha Graham Dance Company, Grand Rapids Symphony, Toledo Symphony, Toledo Opera, Kalamazoo Symphony, Ann Arbor Symphony, Flint Symphony, Michigan Sinfonietta, and Detroit Opera Theatre.

She previously taught at University of Toledo, Sherwood Conservatory (Chicago), Conservatorio de Música del Estado de México, and adjunct clarinet faculty for University of Michigan and Western Illinois University. Jackson has presented recitals and masterclasses throughout the United States and Mexico.

Jackson holds degrees from New England Conservatory of Music (M.M.) and the University of Illinois (B.M.).

I believe in empowering students with the knowledge and skills that will allow them to explore creativity and achieve artistic excellence.