Anthony Taylor, clarinet, has been on the faculty of the University of North Carolina College of Visual and Performing Arts and Principal Clarinet of the Winston-Salem Symphony since 2007. He has been an Artist/Teacher for the Eastern Music Festival since 2013 and served on the faculty of the Hot Springs Music Festival (Arkansas) from 2008–2012. He has formerly held positions with the Spokane Symphony, the Boise Philharmonic, Washington State University, Eastern Washington University, and Whitman College. Taylor’s clarinet playing can be heard on recordings on the Navona, Centaur, Naxos American Classics and Gothic recording labels, and the most recent releases are two Centaur records projects with New Music Raleigh. The most recent is the world premiere recording of Brett William Dietz’s opera introspective Headcase, and another recent release is the debut recording of composer DJ Sparr, 21207. He can also be found on youtube; his video promoting his March 2011 basset clarinet performances of the Mozart concerto with the Winston-Salem symphony now has nearly 100,000 views. In 2014, Taylor was among the first performers of Donald Crockett’s Dance Concerto(please see media page for recordings). He has appeared at the International Clarinet Association ClarinetFest®, with a notable performance of John Adams’s clarinet concerto Gnarly Buttons in 2010 and in 2011, the world premiere of UNCG composer Alejandro Rutty’s work for Guitars, for two clarinets and Ableton Live-based electronics. In recent years, Taylor has been expanding his pedagogical skills through extensive study of human movement and the Alexander Technique, and expects to complete his ATI certification as a teacher of the Alexander Technique some time during the 2016–17 academic year. Taylor holds degrees from the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music, the Florida State University and Washington State University. His former teachers include Steve Cohen, Ron Aufmann, Richard Hawkins, Frank Kowalsky, Jim Schoepflin, and Joseph Brooks.

Clarinetist, composer, educator, and new music collaborator Luke Ellard strives for art that continually reaches out, valuing a relational spirit, informed engagement, and unapologetic authenticity.

For Luke, collaboration is what gives music life. As clarinetist, they have performed with members of Bang On a Can All Stars, Eighth Blackbird, International Contemporary Ensemble, Fifth House Ensemble, Arkansas Symphony, and Lone Star Wind Orchestra. Their current performance projects center around their self-produced solo cross-genre/electronic band LE, and commissioning new exciting works for the clarinet.

Their collaborative spirit is reflected in their life as a composer as well, drawing inspiration from a personal and communicative place. Their music has been performed by groups such as New Trombone Collective (Blue Interjections, finalist in the 2013 Slide Factory International Composition Contest), the North Texas Wind Symphony (The Seer, concerto for Bassoon and Wind Ensemble), HOCKET (someone else’s days, #What2020SoundsLike), the University of Texas Symphony Band (Shifting Tides), Michigan State University Concert Band, Barkada Quartet (threads of execution), the Mother Falcon String Quartet (all I’m feeling right now, winner of Golden Hornet Composer Lab’s String Quartet Smackdown III), and in collaboration with cellist Nick Photinos (haven’t yet, Bang on a Can Summer Festival).

Dr. Ellard joined the faculty at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro in the Fall of 2023 as Visiting Assistant Professor of Clarinet, having previously served on faculty at the University of Oklahoma and Midwestern State University while teaching privately and performing in the Dallas-Fort Worth area. Luke earned their Doctor of Musical Arts in Clarinet Performance with related studies in Contemporary Music and Music Entrepreneurship at the University of North Texas, studying under Kimberly Cole Luevano. Additionally, Luke has earned degrees from Indiana University Jacobs School of Music (James Campbell & Eric Hoeprich), the University of Texas at Austin (Yevgeniy Sharlat, Dan Welcher, & Donald Grantham), and Louisiana Tech University (Lawrence Gibbs, Joe L. Alexander).